SUPREME COURT DECISION

On Thursday 9 September 2021, the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled that Colin Craig has no grounds to challenge the High Court ruling that he sexually harassed his press secretary, Rachel MacGregor from 2012-2014.
Although this ends ten years of legal challenges, the financial challenges for Rachel are just beginning. Rachel now has a legal bill of over $500,000 for a series of legal cases she never wanted to be part of but was forced to participate in. This is another form of harassment, seemingly never-ending for Rachel. The power imbalance in each case has been striking. The emotional, financial and physical impact on Rachel has been considerable.
The Supreme Court ruling confirmed the High Court decision from 2019 that Colin Craig’s actions were “highly inappropriate” and had “clear sexual content” and confirmed a May 2021 decision that Colin Craig “was aware that he acted inappropriately… and his statements in reply were false and misleading”.
Award winning journalist Kirsty Johnston says it like this: "Litigation abuse is real. It's a form of coercive control where the abuser continues to harm their victim in the court, usually until she (yes, she) runs out of resources and has to self-represent or give up."
But Rachel did not give up and in large part this was because of the support of so many ordinary New Zealanders who made donations and left messages of support for Rachel.
We are now asking kiwis to once again show that we do not agree with our courts being used by the rich and powerful to harass and abuse those without. We welcome your donations to the Rachel McGregor Trust so we can help Rachel pay her legal fees, and thank you for your generosity.