Magazine editor still after Parker

David Parker is to be sworn in at Government House today. Picture / Mark Mitchell

David Parker is set to be sworn back into the Cabinet today, but will not regain the transport portfolio, which has been placed in the hands of senior colleague Annette King.

Mr Parker was given back the climate change and energy portfolios he lost six weeks ago after being cleared by the Companies Office of allegations that he made false declarations to it.

The claims were made by a former business partner, Dunedin property developer Russell Hyslop, and Investigate magazine.

The magazine's editor, Ian Wishart, refused to back down yesterday and launched a fresh offensive on his website last night, which he billed as a series of "extremely serious allegations".

Wishart alleged Mr Parker had hidden an asset - an air-conditioning unit - from creditors of a company he owned which became insolvent in the 1990s and that he "sold that asset ... to a prominent Dunedin businessman".

Mr Parker had valued the asset at the time at $5000, Wishart claimed, also alleging Mr Parker may have breached the law by making preferential payments to some creditors.

Wishart also claimed a series of other "possible breaches of the law" warranting further investigation.

After the claims were posted last night a spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark said: "It was a normal liquidation process. No irregularities were found [by the liquidators]."

A spokesman for Mr Parker said Wishart's claims were "covered as part of a normal insolvency process".

"No irregularities were found. There is no further comment."

National, which has accepted last week's Companies Office finding that Mr Parker had not acted improperly, did not object to his reinstatement yesterday.

Mr Parker, set to be sworn in at Government House this morning, was also given the land information portfolio, formerly held by heavily laden minister Pete Hodgson.

Helen Clark rejected suggestions that the decision not to return transport to Mr Parker was a reflection he had not managed the difficult portfolio well.

"It's a question of looking at overall workloads. Annette King is certainly hungry for more work. I think there is a case for a lot of concentration on the climate change issues right now. We've got big policy to put together."

Transport was an integral part of the climate change debate and "another person to that team will be a real advantage". Mr Parker had left the transport portfolio in good nick, she said.

It had previously been thought Mr Parker would not regain the job of Attorney-General, now back in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen.

But Helen Clark said yesterday that if the Otago Law Society complaint laid by Mr Hyslop had "as little foundation as what went to the Companies Office, then coming back as Attorney-General is a distinct possibility".

Mr Parker said yesterday he had learnt "that politics is a tough game. I'm just looking forward to getting back to what I was doing six weeks ago".

He believed he had left the transport portfolio in "good order" but accepted that Ms King had been under-employed.

Mr Parker said he wasn't looking forward to a fresh assault: "Who wants to go through what I've been through in the last six weeks?

"But I don't believe I've done anything wrong."