Field probe 'a whitewash'

MP Taito Phillip Field with Prime Minister Helen Clark after the release of the Ingram report. Picture / Mark Mitchell

The Auckland builder who made the first complaint about Taito Phillip Field has slammed the inquiry into the MP's activities as a whitewash that "would not fool a child".

Speaking exclusively to the Herald on Sunday from Thailand, Keith Williams said that if a full inquiry was convened with powers to compel testimony, he would gladly speak out against the Mangere MP.

Meanwhile, Labour is increasing its oversight of the MP. Chief whip Tim Barnett yesterday visited Field and his staff at their Mangere office.

He said that since the report, Field was more aware of how MPs' actions could be perceived "and in future will be more aware of the unforseen consequences of his actions".

Procedures in the office had been improved, especially regarding lafo (the Samoan equivalent of koha), with constituents being encouraged to give non-monetary gifts, such as food, instead of cash. Barnett said he would visit the office again, probably in September.

Builder Keith Williams, who introduced Field to his Thai tiler, was one of a string of key witnesses who refused to appear before the 10-month inquiry by Noel Ingram, QC - even though he had complained about Field to the Immigration Minister last year.

Williams said he had been advised not to meet Ingram without his lawyer Peter Winter present - the cost of which he said would have been "peanuts" compared with the $480,000 total bill for the report. But Ingram refused to pay Williams' legal costs, so the builder refused to appear.

He said legal protection was important to prevent Field suing him.

Instead of appearing, Williams referred the inquiry to statements he had previously made, but Ingram wrote: "Given that Mr Williams was not prepared to be interviewed by me, I am not prepared to accept his untested evidence unless corroborated."

Williams had employed failed Thai refugee applicant Sunan Siriwan as a tiler. In February 2005 he took the overstayer to meet Field at his Mangere electorate office to discuss Siriwan's immigration case.

He later flew to Samoa with Siriwan on a ticket paid for by Field.

After a falling out with the Field family - which Ingram did not discuss in his report, saying the details were not relevant - Williams came back to New Zealand. Four-and-a-half months later, he wrote a letter of complaint to then-Immigration Minister Paul Swain, alleging Field told Siriwan he could arrange a work permit in exchange for tiling work on his Samoan mansion.

The Ingram Report cleared Field of a conflict of interest but criticised his conduct and behaviour.

Williams said: "If they wanted the truth, they could subpoena witnesses and bring Sunan to New Zealand to testify away from the influence of the Field family."

Because the inquiry was not able to subpoena witnesses, and so obtain necessary evidence, Williams told the Herald on Sunday that he believed the outcome was an "absolute joke" that failed to get to the truth of the allegations.

Field could not be reached for comment. He has claimed to have been exonerated and vindicated by the Ingram Report and has indicated he wants his ministerial posts back.

"I think he's got a God complex," said Williams. "He believes what he's doing is right."

Williams also spoke to the Herald on Sunday about his falling out with the Fields, saying it happened after their nephew wrote off his rental car in Samoa and he was forced to pay for the accident. "Maxine [Field, Phillip's wife] wanted the police to arrest me because the guy was in hospital and not expected to live. She said it was my fault and I should have hidden the keys better," he said.

This week National's immigration spokesman, Dr Lockwood Smith, is considering what to do with further allegations against Field involving a $2000 cash payment.

If a select committee inquiry into Field's activities was launched, Smith said he would release the information there - otherwise he would consider going to the police.

"While an informant has told me something he'd prefer I keep confidential, if I do nothing I'm then party to what, on the face of it, looks like wrongdoing," he said.

The Herald on Sunday last week reported on the high cost of the inquiry. A spokesperson for Helen Clark confirmed this week that the prime minister was not aware of Ingram approaching the Government at any point to discuss escalating costs.