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John Key on Close Up - Source: Close Up -
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Prime Minister John Key is defending the way he handled allegations that National list MP Richard Worth was harassing a woman over text and phone.
Key told TV ONE's Close Up that if Worth is found guilty of any crime, he would expect him to resign as an MP.
But while he says it is important to let justice to take its course, he did say whatever the outcome there is no way Worth will ever be re-instated as a minister in his government.
Labour Leader Phil Goff says he called Key about the allegations
in March, but Key says his office investigated and found no
evidence to back up the claims.
The latest allegation is seperate from the one police are
investigating, which the Police Minister has confirmed is of a
sexual nature.
But another woman says she received a flurry of inappropriate text
messages from Worth, when he was trying to recruit her for a
job.
The woman in this case, a member of the Labour party, claims she received 40 innapropriate texts and 60 phone calls from Worth between November last year and February this year.
Labour leader Phil Goff tabled her statement in the house on Thursday evening, under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
In the statement she says Worth's conversations were sexually explicit and vulgar, including one asking her to buy a see-through garment for herself.
She also alleges that on one occasion he asked, if she prayed for something to happen to her husband so they could be together.
She says on some of the phone calls she believed he was drunk.
Key told Breakfast that Worth told him the allegations are untrue and offered to sign an affidavit that his verions of events was right. Key says he didn't have the woman's name, he had the woman not wanting to come forward and had no documentary evidence.
Key says he went back to Goff's office with Worth's version of events and all Goff's office had to do was go to the woman in question and produce one text message, and he would have sacked Worth on the spot.
Worth hasn't fronted up publicly since he stood down as a minister, but has released a statement saying that he hadn't committed any offence and would co-operate fully with police.
He also says there'd been a rush to judgement on the basis of rumour and speculation, which had been damaging to his political career and hurtful to his family.
Worth maintains that he's innocent and says he'll vigorously defend himself against any accusations that he's broken the law.
