Field faces strife over Otahuhu house sale

The house in Church St, Otahuhu has been sold. Picture / Dean Purcell

A South Auckland man who faced a forced sale of his family home claims Government minister Taito Phillip Field bought the house to help but then failed to let him and his elderly father remain in the dwelling.

But the MP, who is being investigated over an immigration matter, says the family received advice from a Kiwibank adviser on making a private sale to him.

Mr Field said the family then moved out of their own accord.

Last year, the Cole family, who were in "desperate financial trouble" and faced losing their Otahuhu home in a mortgagee sale, approached the Mangere MP and Associate Justice Minister for help.

The family - Patrick Cole, who has Parkinson's disease, and his son Simon Tupou Cole - ended up selling the 1500sq m property to Mr Field for $259,000.

Mr Field has just sold it, 16 months later, for $395,000, One News reported last night.

"Taito Phillip said we could stay there and rent ... but he booted us out two weeks later, and started immediately on renovations," Mr Tupou Cole said.

Mr Field took advantage of the family's situation, he said. "We're a humble family, a quiet family. I believe Taito Phillip is a good man, but the deal wasn't fair and I want the Government to have a look at it."

He said a real estate agent and family friend at the time estimated the house to be worth between $300,000 and $400,000.

But Mr Field set the sale price and forced the family to sell him the house, Mr Tupou Cole said.

"That's what I can't comprehend - why did we fall in to signing some piece of paper for $250,000 when there were higher offers. We didn't want to sell the house."
Mr Field denied the claims last night and said Patrick Cole had suggested the sale price.

The MP said there had been no agreement that the pair could stay on and they chose to leave.

Mr Field said when he bought the house it was in a bad state of repair, with flooding in the basement. It needed redecoration and rewiring.

He said it was a family matter as Mr Cole was part of his extended family. "His children call me 'uncle'."

Mr Tupou Cole said the family approached Mr Field because he was their MP, not because of family ties.

The Cole family are now living in a Housing New Zealand property.

Last night, Mr Field released a statement that said Patrick Cole "remains grateful" for the help.

Mr Field then released a document said to be signed by Mr Cole at 5.30 last night which stated that the sale price they agreed on "was given by a real estate agent ... "

"I appreciate the help that Taito tried to salvage our home but in the end the best option was to have a private sale as advised by the Kiwibank adviser," Mr Cole was quoted as saying.

Mr Cole was last night suffering from stress-related shaking and was not available for comment. He was taken to Otahuhu Accident & Medical Clinic as a precaution.

But Mr Tupou Cole said his father was pressured to sign the document. "I left for TVNZ about 5pm and an hour later the statement my father signed, with me not being present, was faxed to TVNZ.

"It doesn't feel right. My father is not all there ... He didn't know what he was signing."

A spokesman for caretaker Prime Minister Helen Clark said that she had no comment to make on the issue. But it would be added to a list of claims involving Mr Field being investigated by Government-appointed Queen's Counsel Noel Ingram.

Dr Ingram was appointed last week after claims surfaced just before the election about Mr Field's role in an application for a work permit for a Thai overstayer who tiled his house in Samoa.

Sunan Siriwan had been turned down for refugee status in New Zealand but had stayed illegally.

Mr Field asked Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor to direct the Immigration Service to grant Mr Siriwan a work permit if he left New Zealand and applied for it from Samoa.

Mr O'Connor told officials to allow Mr Siriwan and his partner, Aumporn Phanngarm, known as Luck, to apply for work permits subject to health and police checks.