ACC Minister Judith Collins has settled her defamation case against two Labour MPs over comments they made linking her to a leaked email.
After a closed settlement hearing in Auckland High Court on Wednesday the three politicians issued a joint statement saying they still differed over whether the comments were defamatory but the case wouldn't go any further.
They agreed the leaked email former National Party president Michelle Boag sent to ACC was "an issue of serious public concern" and the MPs, Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, were entitled to ask questions about it.
The Labour MPs said if their comments were taken as meaning Ms Collins falsely told parliament she wasn't responsible for the leak, they regretted it.
"Messrs Mallard and Little have confirmed to Ms Collins that was not their intention," the statement said.
The leaked email was an issue in May this year when the row over ACC's huge privacy breach was at its height.
It identified former National Party activist Bronwyn Pullar as the woman who received the information.
Ms Collins said when she launched the defamation case that she wanted an apology and appears to have agreed that the MPs' expression of regret is sufficient.
None of them wanted the case to go to trial, and the statement says neither Ms Collins nor the MPs will make any further comment.
NZN