Field's Thai tiler turned down for NZ re-entry visa

Taito Phillip Field

The Government has confirmed the Thai tiler at the centre of the Taito Phillip Field affair will not be allowed to re-enter New Zealand.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe told Parliament that work visa applications for Sunan Siriwan and his partner Aumporn Phanngarm had been declined.

National MP Lockwood Smith later tabled a letter from the Immigration Service to Mr Siriwan's lawyer saying the applications had been declined.

This was because a previous ministerial declaration by the then Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor had expired.

Mr Siriwan complained that he had not taken up the offer because he was acting on the advice of Mr Field not to return to New Zealand.

The service said it was not responsible for representations made by Mr Field to the couple.

The letter also said they were not bona fide applicants because they had worked unlawfully in New Zealand previously and there was no sign they planned to return to Thailand after the temporary permits expired.

The service said that while it had "some sympathy for the plight of Mr Siriwan and his family" the applications would be denied on the facts to hand in an "apolitical" manner.

Mr Field has been suspended from Parliament on full pay while the police investigate his dealings with constituents seeking help with immigration.

The investigation was sparked by the case of Mr Siriwan after claims the MP gave him immigration assistance in return for his working on Mr Field's house in Apia, Samoa.

Mr Siriwan and his partner were originally offered a visa as a result of Mr Field's application on their behalf. They had six months to lodge their applications.

The couple decided to take up the case again and hired a lawyer to help.

Mr Siriwan had been in New Zealand trying to get a work permit when he sought Mr Field's help.

- NZPA