Rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross has dropped another string of bombshells, pledging to remain in Parliament, admitting to having an affair with a married MP and releasing a second secret recording.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
In an wide-ranging interview with Newstalk ZB, Mr Ross pushed back against what he calls a smear campaign run by the National Party.
The Newsroom website on Thursday published the accounts of four anonymous women who accused the now-independent MP of seriously harassing and bullying women.
Mr Ross, who announced he was leaving the National Party and Parliament on Tuesday, told Newstalk ZB he disputed the way the story was written, but did admit to having a "long-term" affair with another married MP.
He named the woman, but the radio station chose not to broadcast it.
"We entered into a relationship. We shared a lot of information. I dispute the way in which she's said that I've acted, but the reality is we have had a relationship."
Mr Ross also admitted to having a brief relationship with a former staffer. He said sorry to his wife for the sexual relationships he had admitted to having with other women.
"The bottom line is I haven't been a good husband," he said.
"I have done some things that I am not proud of. I have apologised to her in person and I am going to continue to apologise to her."
Mr Ross said given "the rules of the game have changed" he would no longer be leaving Parliament.
He had intended to hand his resignation today, but believed it was more important to continue exposing "serious flaws" in the National Party.
"There's a lot of bed-hopping that goes on down in that Parliament," he said.
"There's a lot of behaviour that a lot of people would want kept secret and has been kept secret until now. But the way in which we now play politics is that we lift the bed-sheets and we start getting into that detail."
The former National MP also released another tape, revealing part of a conversation he had with leader Simon Bridges about allegations of harassing women.
The brief recording - which Mr Ross referred to earlier in the week - is difficult to make out, but in it, Mr Ross appears to demand evidence and space to respond properly to the claims.
Mr Bridges appears to respond: "Honestly Jami-Lee, if I gave you natural justice on these issues it wouldn't be four or five, it would be fifteen."
