Former Speaker Peter Slipper has made mistakes, but he's a really nice, decent, kind-hearted guy, his wife says.
Mr Slipper announced he would re-contest his Sunshine Coast seat of Fisher on Thursday with his wife, Inge-Jane Hall, by his side.
Over the past 18 months, Mr Slipper has been accused of sexual harassment, charged with misusing expenses and resigned as Speaker over offensive text messages.
Ms Hall admits he's made mistakes, like anyone, but her life has been incredibly difficult because of the allegations.
"Made quite difficult in some respects by actually you guys," she told reporters.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"I've had helicopters come down over my house, I've had telephoto lenses looking into our home.
"I've had somebody, I think from one of the local TV stations who actually put their hand on the bonnet of my car in my garage ... they were obviously trying to check to see whether the temperature of the car was hot or cold."
Ms Hall said her husband was often misunderstood, but he had shown strength by soldiering on over the last 18 months.
"You just don't understand him and I think that's really sad," she said.
"I do want to say to people that our marriage is real, I've had to listen to rumours spread throughout this community about how our marriage is not real, that we've divorced and all those sorts of things.
"I do love my husband, that I took my vows seriously when I married him seven years ago.
"He's a really good guy and through all of this ... through our marriage being targeted, specifically, he has continued, and I don't know how he's done it, to go out day after day and represent the people of the electorate of Fisher."
"That's a very nice thing to say," Mr Slipper, who appeared surprised, told her.
