Clark's warning puts heat on Field

Taito Phillip Field

Helen Clark has increased the pressure on Taito Phillip Field, effectively inviting him to resign from Parliament.

She is also warning that Labour is highly unlikely to select him as a candidate for the next election.

Mr Field's suitability as an MP resurfaced as an issue yesterday after new questions about his conduct were raised by the Weekend Herald and TV One's Sunday programme.

Helen Clark yesterday stopped short of forcing a head-to-head clash with Mr Field by demanding or forcing his resignation.

An MP can be forced from the Labour Party but not from Parliament, unless found guilty of an offence carrying a jail term of two years or more.

Helen Clark yesterday distanced herself from any responsibility for deciding whether Mr Field should remain a Labour MP, saying it was a matter for the Labour Party and not the Prime Minister.

But asked if he should remain an MP she said: "I'm sure in light of any humiliation like this, anyone would reconsider what their career prospects might be."

She said she had made similar comments "ad nauseam", but yesterday's appeared a much stronger challenge to Mr Field than any previously reported.

Asked what the Labour Party should do, she said she did not want to offer an opinion.

At his Mangere home last night. Mr Field said: "There's nothing really I want to say."

But earlier in the day, his lawyer, Simativa Perese, said Mr Field intended to remain as a Labour MP and to contest the next election for Labour in Mangere.

Labour Party president Mike Williams did not return calls yesterday.

It is possible the clearly uncomfortable party is waiting to assess events in Parliament this week and the effect of further rumoured allegations before committing itself to any decision about Mr Field remaining as one of its MPs.

Another factor possibly delaying any move is that the police have spent weeks assessing whether to conduct a formal investigation into Mr Field.

A police spokesman said yesterday a decision was "not far away".

The weekend reports included apparent contradictions between assertions to the Ingram inquiry that Mr Field and his wife did not intend to employ Thai residency seeker Sunan Siriwan in Samoa, and Mrs Field filling in a Samoan work visa application promising to employ him.

National leader Don Brash yesterday challenged Helen Clark and Noel Ingram, QC, who carried out the inquiry, to say if they stood behind its findings.

"The revelation by the Herald that Mr or Mrs Field signed Mr Siriwan's Samoan work permit as his employer is in total conflict with the statements made by Mr Field to the Ingram inquiry."

He called on Dr Ingram - who has refused to speak publicly about his report - to "tell New Zealanders what we should make of his report in light of these revelations."

Helen Clark said Mr Field had already been publicly humiliated and "clearly [Sunday's] coverage and other coverage at the weekend continues that practice".

As Prime Minister her job was to assess Mr Field's capability as a minister, and after the Ingram report came out, she had said he would not be re-appointed.

His role as a Labour Party MP was "a matter for him and the Labour Party organisation to work through".

On Mr Field's stated plan to seek reselection in Mangere, she said: "That ball is really in his court and you should be putting those questions to him."

FIELD'S TRUMP CARD

* If he is ejected from the Labour Party, MP Taito Phillip Field could opt to remain an independent MP, forcing the Government to go to three parties rather than two to get legislation passed - an unappealing scenario and the one real card he holds.