Veitch urged to help against violence 

Women's Refuge believes broadcaster Tony Veitch should now use his high profile status to make a stand against family violence.

The television and radio sports personality has admitted assaulting his former partner and paying her money.

Veitch's admission was watched closely by Women's Refuge .

"He said what needed to be said, that he absolutely regretted it, that it was wrong, that there were no excuses for it," says spokeswoman Catherine Delore.

But Women's Refuge says while it is pleased Veitch has fronted up to the media, he could have delivered a stronger message about violence.

And the organisation says it's not on that he paid his former girlfriend hush money. It says Veitch may have been highly stressed and on medication, but that is no excuse to lash out.

Chief executive Heather Henare says people should not be crucified forever. She says it is now up to Veitch to convince his employers he is not a walking time bomb and has changed his ways.

The ONE News presenter made a public apology to his ex partner and the New Zealand public at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

He blamed work stress for the incident and said he had been on medication. Veitch says the assault is something he will regret to the end of his days.

Radio Sport host Brendan Telfer is glad his colleague has broken his silence.

"I'm pleased that he has made a public statement, I think he possibly should have made it earlier in the week," says Telfer.

And he says he stands by his mate. "He's suffering badly, sure he brought this on himself, but he does need support."

Commentator Deborah Coddington says one good thing has come out of the Veitch affair with his public confession showing how widespread domestic violence is. Coddington says it is spread right across the country.

Coddington says whoever advised Veitch to sign a confidentiality agreement was crazy because now we will probably only ever know one side of the story.

Veteran broadcaster Paul Holmes says he has spent a gut wrenching 48 hours over Veitch. He says the Radio Sport host is in danger of losing almost everything after admitting the assault on his former partner.

Holmes says his radio friends did not speak out on the issue sooner because they felt they had to wait for Veitch to come out and make a public statement. He says Veitch is a well liked colleague, admired for his work ethic and sense of humour.

Holmes says his work friends are to some extent traumatised by the developments of this week.

Veitch's boss at TVNZ when the assault happened, Bill Ralston, denies knowing anything about the incident but says he had warned him about his heavy workload.

"The Game of Two Halves, the sports reading and the radio show, plus his private work and talking at conferences and quiz shows - I remember saying to him at the time, 'how many houses did he need to buy'."

The head of the New Zealand Broadcasting School believes Veitch is damaged goods and resigning may be his best option.

Paul Norris, who was also once the head of news and current events at TVNZ, says Veitch's employers will have to weigh up public opinion but he believes the best outcome would ultimately be for Veitch to leave of his own accord.

Norris says his bosses can not afford damaging their integrity and reputation by having a high profile employee in this situation.

TVNZ is conducting a review into the incident and released a statement saying it had had a number of conversations with Veitch and his legal team since Monday.

It also said that violence is a major issue in New Zealand, and the profile of the On Air presenters is important to the public and to the organisation.

Veitch remains on leave from both TVNZ and Radio Sport and his statement gave no indication of his immediate plans.