KEY POINTS:
A protester hit in the face by a swinging megaphone outside the Labour Party's annual conference on Saturday says he will not lay charges.
But Jared Phillips said he will not accept the apology of the man who hit him, unionist Len Richards.
Another protester, Bronwyn Davies, the
wife of high-profile activist John Minto, has said she was also hit by the megaphone and she has laid a complaint with police.
Police are considering whether to lay charges in relation to the scuffle outside the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna.
Mr Richards has apologised for his actions, saying he went to talk to the 150 protesters outside the conference and had no intention of hitting anyone.
The group was protesting the recent police "anti-terror" raids and the altercation developed after Mr Richards claimed he was drowned out by the group's noise.
Mr Phillips today said he was disappointed Mr Richards and his wife, fellow SFWU delegate Jill Ovens, had not boycotted Labour's conference over the police raids issue.
"While I won't lay charges, I won't let Len absolve himself by accepting his apology," he said in a statement.
He said the pair - former Alliance supporters - had moved to the right after the collapse of the party and accused them of abandoning wider left-wing causes.
Coverage of the incident overshadowed Helen Clark's speech to the conference about personal tax cuts under Labour.
Helen Clark said yesterday morning on TV One's Agenda the crowd had been "highly provocative".
She had seen a reference to the crowd calling someone a "scab", though nothing excused a person taking a swing at someone.
Ms Ovens, whose partner Richards was filmed hitting a protester with a loudhailer, said yesterday she was disappointed at what she saw on the television coverage.
Mr Richards declined to comment, but Ms Ovens said: "I don't condone what he did at all and we both have enough experience of party discipline from the Alliance to know that you just don't do these kinds of things, and the general disrepute it brought on the Labour Party particularly after all the stuff with Mallard."
Ms Ovens, a former Alliance leader who stood against Helen Clark in Mt Albert, joined Labour last year after becoming secretary of the Labour-affiliated Service Workers Union, as did Mr Richards.
She said she was very disappointed when she saw the television coverage on Saturday night. "I deeply regret any disrepute it brought on the Labour Party."
Mr Richards is expecting to be interviewed by the police this week.
The crowd of about 100 had been demonstrating against the police raids of three weeks ago. Ms Ovens said she was handed the megaphone by one of the protesters but after being abused with cries of "lies lies," had put it on the ground. Mr Richards then picked it up and said: "Why aren't you listening to her?"
Bronwen Summers, who works for the Auckland District Health Board, said Mr Richards got into a fight with Phillips of the Unite union. Ms Summers was struck on the face by the megaphone unintentionally after Mr Richards had struck Mr Phillips.
- with NZPA
