Labour leader Chris Hipkins has explained what he has sought legal advice on, following the publication on social media of allegations by his ex-wife Jade Paul.
He said he had not sought legal advice about Paul or the Facebook post.
"I want to be clear, I have not sought legal advice on anything around my ex-wife or her Facebook post," he told Breakfast this morning.
"What I have sought advice about is the potential publication of things against me, allegations against me that are just untrue.
"There are now a lot of things swirling around there. Everybody seems to be piling in on social media, in particular, and a lot of that is just absolute fabrication. It is just no basis in fact whatsoever."
On Monday, the Labour leader rejected the accusations in a short statement to media after screenshots of Paul's post began circulating on social media, and again at an emotional news conference yesterday afternoon.
Labour leader breaks down in press conference - watch on TVNZ+
Hipkins said today that when relationships broke down, there are lots of disagreements. But he again rejected the claims, which did not detail any unlawful behaviour.
"And really those are very deeply personal matters, and they're not matters that I think should be, you know, litigated through the public," Hipkins said.
The Labour leader told Breakfast he hasn’t sought legal advice about his ex-wife or her social media posts, but said he had done so about “the potential publication of things against me, allegations against me, that are just untrue”. (Source: Breakfast)
Hipkins said he had been "hugely indebted" to his family for their support.
"My family have been amazingly supportive of me all the way through my time in public life, and they're continuing to be so and I am hugely indebted to my family, who have just been absolutely amazing."
He thanked others "across the political spectrum" for their messages of support.
He later told RNZ he had considered his future in politics.
"It would be untrue to say that those thoughts hadn't crossed my mind in the last 48 hours, but everybody in their lives at some point goes through rough patches, and you just have to keep getting out of bed every day.
"I love my job and and I'm absolutely committed to continuing to do it."
The social media post
Yesterday a tearful Hipkins again flatly denied having an affair, and other claims made by his ex-wife, in an emotional press conference at Parliament.
His voice broke at points as he responded to the now-deleted Facebook post from Sunday evening.
Hipkins asked about political future after ex-wife's allegations - watch on TVNZ+
But Hipkins said he would not be drawn into a public back-and-forth.
"I reject the allegations that she’s made and the characterisation of those events, and I don’t intend to get into a backwards and forwards on those. I don’t think that would be the best thing for anybody involved, but particularly not for my children."
He said he would not "litigate" personal matters publicly and was putting his children first.
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