ACC case: Police consider investigation

Nick Smith. Photo / APN

Police are assessing whether to launch an investigation into a National Party insider's alleged threat to go public with private information about ACC clients.

Bronwyn Pullar was last year accidentally sent information on about 6700 ACC claims, including sensitive claims from people who had been sexually assaulted.

ACC alleges Ms Pullar threatened to go public with the information unless the corporation gave her two years of benefit entitlements during a meeting with senior managers in December.

Ms Pullar was injured in a cycling accident in 2002 that left her unable to work fulltime.

She has since been fighting for ACC cover, enlisting former ACC Minister Nick Smith and former National Party president Michelle Boag as referee and support person respectively.

A police spokesman said police had received a file on the allegations from ACC yesterday.

"That will now be assessed to establish whether further investigation is required.''

Police could not put a timeframe on how long the assessment would take.

"It's always dependent on the nature of the nature of the file and the matters that are in the file.

"The initial assessment will be to establish any criminality, which would involve looking at it from a legal perspective and then on the basis of that, that would determine whether further investigation was required.''