KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark is refusing to comment on whether she is the real artist behind an ink drawing signed in her name which will be auctioned next month.
The A4 picture of the Beehive carries Miss Clark's name and was gifted to a charity auction at Ellerslie School in 2001 where it sold for $80.
The cartoon-style doodle was drawn two years after Miss Clark first passed off a painting as her own, but before the "paintergate" scandal was revealed in the media in 2002.
Police later found a prima facie case of fraud in relation to two pictures, but decided against prosecuting the low-level crime, which involved no financial gain on the part of Miss Clark, as it was not in the public interest.
Miss Clark confessed in 2002 that half a dozen art works sold for charity under her name as an MP may not have been her own.
She admitted that a drawing of the Beehive signed by her that raised $1300 for Ponsonby Primary School the previous year was actually done by one of her staff.
She told the Herald at the time: "It doesn't happen that often. It may have happened half a dozen times in 20 1/2 years and I have often asked the staff to help when that request has been made."
The Herald on Sunday yesterday quoted auctioneer Dunbar Sloane Jnr as saying the Beehive drawing was possibly a fake, with the signature appearing to have been photocopied on to the picture sometime after it was completed.
But Miss Clark today refused to answer questions about the picture on Newstalk ZB.
Mr Sloane said the speculation swirling around the picture was likely to spur interest in the May 15 auction and it could fetch up to $2000.
- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF
