Goff defiant over handling of Hughes crisis

Labour leader Phil Goff is standing by his handling of the Darren Hughes controversy and does not believe he has made any mistakes.

No immediate coup is expected but questions about Mr Goff's leadership have mounted after it was revealed he knew about a sexual allegation against Mr Hughes for weeks before it was made public.

Today the party's caucus meet in Dunedin and the incident is likely to be discussed, with Mr Goff accepting that some may not have agreed with his approach.

Mr Hughes announced he would resign from Parliament on Friday as details emerged of a naked 18-year-old man seen in the street on March 2. It is believed he was fleeing Labour deputy leader Annette King's Wellington house, where Mr Hughes was staying and where the alleged incident happened.

Mr Hughes denies any wrong doing and is determined to clear his name.

The allegations were made public on Wednesday but Mr Hughes told Mr Goff as soon as the complaint was made. Once the claim was public, Mr Hughes was stripped of his education spokesman and party whip roles -- positions Mr Goff had initially let him keep.

Mr Goff told reporters he did not ask Mr Hughes for details of the alleged incident and was not told the man allegedly fled the house naked.

"I was told that a complaint had been lodged with the police, the broad nature of that complaint, and I then had a very serious decision to make.

"Should I step in and put him on leave immediately? I thought about doing that."

He decided that would spark speculation and in the interests of justice, the complainant's privacy and the police investigation, he opted to keep it "close to my own chest".

Asked repeatedly if it would have been better to be up front immediately, Mr Goff said he had not wanted it made public until the police finished their investigation.

Neither the party's president, Andrew Little, the Labour caucus nor its media advisors were kept in the loop and no legal advice or police contact was sought.

Mr Little, who is expected to be replaced by Moira Coatsworth as party president this weekend as he focuses on trying to win the New Plymouth seat, expressed frustration over the lack of communication and the pair talked about it yesterday for the first time.

"It's his entitlement to say he would have like to have been talked to early. As I pointed out to Andrew, it was no reflection on him, it was a decision that I thought should be made."

Mr Goff stood by his approach, saying he did the right thing.

"There will be people that say 'no we would have handled it differently' (and) I am prepared to listen to their point of view."

While caucus views would vary, they would all understand how difficult the decision was, he said.

A party conference at the weekend discussed the party list, and Mr Goff was asked if he would have provided information about the inquiry before a list was finalised if it wasn't already public. Such questions were "hypothetical", he said.

"This matter was never going to be 'covered up' -- that wasn't my intention, it's not what I believe in."

Prime Minister John Key said he did not know enough about the detail to comment on Mr Goff's approach and it was up to the Labour caucus to judge.

"All I can say is in public office you are on display to the public, they have a chance to assess how you handled matters and what that might mean for the future issues you might need to deal with."

The incident had damaged the party, Mr Goff said: "There's nothing I can do to avoid that."

A return to Parliament would be difficult in the short-term for Mr Hughes even if he was not charged given the "misjudgment" around the age of the complainant.

"I think it's very sad... to end (Mr Hughes') political career in this way."