Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has today issued himself with a legal notice, threatening to take him to court on charges of defamation.
Craig, who is widely regarded as having an excellent sense of humour, argues that his self, Colin Craig, has caused “substantial and ongoing” damage to his reputation, which he says has cost him personally and financially, as well as set his career back by “some years.”
In a lengthy document issued to himself through law firm Chapman Tripp, Craig pointed to an extensive list of statements made by Colin Craig, which have been identified as patently false, and thus defamatory.
“When you go out there and say things about people that are critical, that’s okay, I’m okay with that,” explained Craig in a brief phone interview with Newstalk ZB this morning. “We all say things like that, or make jokes. I’m a great lover of jokes, so I would never get upset about that.
“But when you instead go out there and say something that’s just not true, it can actually cause real harm to your public image, and that’s very serious, and I take that very seriously.”
Amongst the list of things the legal notice says Craig has done to defame himself, is “the act of filing a large number of frivolous defamation lawsuits, including this one.”
But Craig’s lawyer, John McKay, who will be defending Mr. Craig, rejected that description.
“Really, when you look at this, and you think about it, it’s anything but frivolous,” he said. “I think a lot of people have this impression that my client just goes around threatening anyone who has anything negative to say about him. But the truth is, there are a lot of people out there, all the time, and we’re aware of them, who are saying things about Mr. Craig, unfairly, and doing things, unfairly, to make Mr. Craig look ridiculous.
“But honestly, you can’t say we’re out there filing lawsuits against all of them, because we’re not. We’re instead going after the single biggest perpetrator of damaging impressions about Mr. Craig, and that is Colin Craig.”
Craig estimates that Mr. Craig has done upwards of $200,000 worth of damage to his reputation, and is seeking twice that in reparations.
Defamation expert Steven Price says he believes Craig will have a “strong case” against himself.
“Essentially, when we’re looking for something that constitutes defamation, we’re looking at two things,” he explained. “Firstly, for it to be defamation, the statement or action needs to be either clearly false or presenting information that is clearly false. Secondly, that statement or action needs to cause real, demonstrable harm to the victim and their wellbeing.
“It is my understanding that Craig has said and done many things that fit those criteria.”
Craig has yet to decide how he will respond to his lawsuit.