KEY POINTS:
Tony Veitch paid his former partner up to $170,000 to ensure her silence about his assault on her - far more than the $100,000 originally reported, the Herald has learned.
A source said the payment was made in instalments, with an initial handover of $100,000.
The rest was paid just before Veitch married his wife, Zoe Halford.
The Herald has also learned TVNZ bosses are considering keeping Veitch off air until after the Olympics - but then allowing him to return to work.
Women's Refuge head Heather Henare said it was too soon to say whether Veitch should return to air.
She said that in his public statement on Wednesday, he had refused to address the specifics of what he did to his former partner.
"While he did say he was sorry, there were also a lot of things he didn't say and many questions that remain unanswered."
Veitch's former partner, Kristin Dunne-Powell, whom he is alleged to have assaulted so severely in 2006 that she was temporarily unable to walk, is believed to have arrived back from Sydney on Wednesday.
Police yesterday assigned an investigator to the case, and it is understood she will try to talk to Ms Dunne-Powell today.
Legal experts have told the Herald Veitch could face several years behind bars if convicted of the assault.
Ms Henare said TVNZ would be hard pushed not to follow the example of the Radio Network, which yesterday said it was suspending Veitch while it investigated the claims.
Veitch's One News and Game of Two Halves employer, TVNZ, has remained silent about when it learned of the assault.
TVNZ said on One News last night that it did not know about his relationship with Ms Dunne-Powell before Monday's reports and was not involved in brokering an agreement between them.
But the state broadcaster stopped short of saying it did not know of an assault by Veitch before Monday.
Chief executive Rick Ellis said TVNZ wanted to be as open as it could, but it was also committed to conducting its employee relations in a fair and responsible way.
"I would ask for the public's patience while we go through our processes in a proper way."
The Herald understands staff at Radio Sport's sister station, NewstalkZB, were instructed not to broadcast talkback calls on Tuesday about the allegations against Veitch.
The Radio Network's general manager of talk programming, Bill Francis - who stood alongside Veitch as he made his statement on Wednesday - said the network needed to gather more information about the claims that had been made.
He would not say whether it knew of the assault before details were published by the media.
