About five years ago, Simon Bridges made remarks that upset me at the time. They were not about me, but they were inappropriate and not something I wanted to hear, National MP for Waitaki Jacqui Dean says.

“At the time there was an apology, but subsequently it has continued to play on my mind and with the recent reviews that have occurred in Parliament the feelings have been brought back up.

“What matters to me is that all of us have a clear understanding of what behaviour we should expect in a modern workplace environment.

“Simon and I have spoken a number of times over the past few hours and he has reiterated his apology.

“As I’m sure can be appreciated, the publicity around this has been upsetting and I ask that my privacy is respected on this.”