National MP Sam Uffindell's former flatmate and her father are happy for Maria Dew KC's report to be publicly released, in redacted form.
Uffindell returned to his party's caucus this week after leader Christopher Luxon said the inquiry cleared him of bullying beyond his boarding schoolyears.
The Tauranga MP was stood down after a former flatmate told RNZ he was an aggressive bully at Otago University; once pounding on her bedroom door, yelling, until she fled through her window.
Dew's independent inquiry into the claims "did not substantiate any allegations of bullying outside of Sam's time at King's College", party president Sylvia Wood said on Monday.
A former Otago University student and her father claimed Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell acted in a bullying manner towards her while they flatted together. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National says the report found Uffindell "did not engage" in the behaviour his former flatmate detailed on RNZ last month - which prompted the inquiry.
That included dismissing her claims he bashed on her door yelling obscenities and smashed up the flat.
But the woman and her father stand firmly by her account of what happened at the flat, and are deeply unhappy Uffindell's word was taken over hers.
She had originally said she fled to her friend's house but later said she ran to the library where she called her father, who put her up in a motel for the night.
The woman gave a written statement during the inquiry but did not participate further, believing it to be a political snow job.
Luxon has stressed the process has been independent and fair but will not release the report, its terms of reference or an executive summary, citing confidentiality.
The former flatmate's father said he and his daughter were happy for the report to be shared publicly in redacted form, with the names of the 14 participants anonymised.
The father made a point of saying if Uffindell had nothing to hide he would not need his name redacted, given the report apparently cleared him of any wrongdoing.
He told RNZ he did not have a vested interest in the MP's political future but felt the party had wrongly and unnecessarily painted his daughter a liar.
Luxon is defending the party's approach, saying he "absolutely" believed he had struck the right balance between confidentiality and transparency.
"I've gone off and said look we understood the King's College incident but the reality is the new incident and what happened from there I wanted to have an independent investigation.
"I think we've done that incredibly well with a clear set of outcomes and I've represented that very faithfully through our statements."
Luxon said the woman that made allegations against Uffindell is not so much a liar, but her account of events differed from what occurred.
"Maria Dew, [whom] we trust to run an independent investigation, that's why we went out to her, came back to say there were differing accounts of what happened and that the serious events and the serious behaviour that was alleged did not in fact occur that way," Luxon told AM.
