Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is back in the media after announcing intentions to sue for defamation.
Craig has made claims that John Stringer, Cameron Slater and Jordan Williams all publicly made false allegations against him. These include recent allegations of sexual harassment of Craig’s former press secretary Rachel MacGregor, claims which Craig has denied.
Last Wednesday, Craig announced his plans to sue at a press conference, during which he handed out a pamphlet entitled “Dirty Politics and Hidden Agendas”. The pamphlet makes a number of claims that a smear campaign was run against Craig. The pamphlet dubs Slater, Williams and Stringer as “the Dirty Politics brigade”.
Craig has accused Williams of defamation, claiming he gathered and manipulated evidence against him. According to Craig, this was possible because of Williams’ romantic relationship with MacGregor.
“It was [Jordan] Williams who gathered the initial information and accusations against Craig. His source was Craig’s former press secretary Rachel MacGregor, with whom Williams had a romantic relationship,” the pamphlet reads.
Whaleoil blogger, Cameron Slater, has refuted the allegations made by Craig, calling the legal action “laughable” in an interview on Radio Live. Slater was previously embroiled in controversy last year over the publishing of his emails in Nicky Hager’s book, Dirty Politics.
However, the most controversial claims made by Craig are targeted at former Conservative Party board member, John Stringer. Stringer was highly critical of Craig following media controversy surrounding MacGregor.
The pamphlet labels Stringer as “Judas” in reference to the biblical figure said to have betrayed Jesus.
Craig claims that Stringer sought to undermine Craig after he placed low on the Conservative Party list leading up to the 2014 election. Stringer is accused of targeting the party leader following the election. “It appears that it was not long after the election Stringer began his campaign to destabilise Craig,” the pamphlet reads.