National Party leader Christopher Luxon says he and Tauranga voters should have been informed of MP Sam Uffindell's violent assault on another boy while at school.
It was revealed on Monday that National's Uffindell, the recently-elected MP for Tauranga, was asked to leave his Auckland boarding school after attacking a fellow student more than 20 years ago.
Uffindell only apologised to the victim before his election campaign - raising questions about his timing.
Addressing the incident on Tuesday, Luxon told reporters there was no place for violence in New Zealand.
Referring to Uffindell, Luxon said the Tauranga MP had fronted the issue and was "genuinely remorseful".
"He is not the same person that he was 22 years ago as a 16-year-old and I think, fundamentally, when you think about this place of Parliament and 120 MPs in it, it wouldn't be very full if we all had a perfect past," Luxon said.
He said Uffindell had his support but noted he had some trust to build back with Tauranga voters heading into election 2023.
Uffindell informed the National Party's pre-selection committee about the attack before he was selected as a candidate but Luxon said he was not notified.
"The thing that could've been different, frankly, is that I should've been informed rather than finding out yesterday. The second thing is, is that the delegates ultimately should've been informed.
"Most importantly, I think the voters in Tauranga should've been informed so that they could form their own judgement.
"I've had assurances that these are the only allegations and issues that we're aware of."
Luxon went on to say there was a "deep exploration" of Uffindell's past after the assault was disclosed to the selection panel.
"As I understand it, Sam genuinely made a very genuine apology and reached out to the individual concerned."
Luxon also said while it was a serious incident, "we're not talking about [a] criminal activity here".
"It's totally unacceptable and abhorrent… what we're saying here is I'm not condoning the behaviour at all, I've been really clear about that upfront… what I'm saying to you is Sam Uffindell has changed from the 16-year-old teenager that was expelled from school 20 years ago."
It's not the first time the National Party's selection process has been scrutinised in recent years, coming under fire following multiple high-profile departures of MPs including Hamish Walker, who leaked COVID-19 patient details to the media, and Andrew Falloon, who sent unsolicited sexually explicit images to young women.
Candidate Jake Bezzant also left the party last year after serious allegations emerged from an ex-girlfriend.
