National's health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse has admitted he too received private patient information from Michelle Boag, after fellow MP Hamish Walker leaked similar data to the media last week.
Today Mr Woodhouse confirmed he'd received four "unsolicited emails" from Ms Boag in late June, while she was the acting CEO of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.
"I recognised that the information in those emails was private so I did not share it with anyone else and I subsequently deleted them," he says.
Mr Woodhouse says it wasn't the same information leaked by Mr Walker, but "was similar insofar as it contained patient details".
Mr Woodhouse says he deleted emails with Covid-19 case details he received from Michelle Boag in late June.
Only moments after Mr Woodhouse released his statement today, Ms Boag announced she's resigned as a member of the National Party, saying she's developed an "unhealthy relationship with politics".
"Unfortunately this passion has put me on a self-destructive path," she says.
Acknowledging the emails to Mr Woodhouse, Ms Boag says her decision to share that information was wrong.
"[It was] driven by my distorted view that providing that information would help the National Party to hold the Government to account," she says.
"In fact it was harmful, not helpful, and it is time that the National Party and I parted ways."
Mr Woodhouse says Ms Boag wasn't the source of other information he's released, alluding to allegations of a homeless man sneaking into a managed isolation facility and his reports that two women granted compassionate leave had shared a "kiss and a cuddle" on their trip to Wellington.
Neither of the allegations were able to be substantiated when investigated by the Ministry of Health.
Ms Boag was the National Party president in the early 2000s, and continued to remain a member of the party over the decades.
After the leak to Mr Walker was revealed earlier this week, she stepped down from the Auckland Central electorate executive and the National Party campaign committees.
She's also resigned from her position at the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.
An investigation is still underway into the leak, headed up by top lawyer Michael Heron QC
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