PM denies pushing paper to go for Doone

Former police commissioner Peter Doone and Prime Minister Helen Clark. Pictures / Fotopress, Nigel Marple

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday there had been contested evidence about what former Police Commissioner Peter Doone had said to the young constable who stopped the car in which he was a passenger.

But she had no proof of what she told a newspaper about it because she had no tapes, transcripts or detailed recall.

Helen Clark said she was fairly certain she would have conveyed to the Sunday Star-Times that there was contested evidence on what the commissioner had said, which was evident from the reports.

She had not encouraged the newspaper to pursue Mr Doone during her off-the-record conversations with its staff.

The Sunday Star-Times ran a report saying Mr Doone had said "That won't be necessary" to a constable who had tried to breath-test his partner, Robyn, when the car she was driving was stopped in Wellington on the night of November 27, 1999.

Helen Clark "verified" the remark, the paper says.

It later published an apology to Mr Doone, saying it accepted that the phrase had not been used.

Mr Doone and Robyn, now his wife, last week withdrew defamation proceedings against the newspaper, saying that after learning through discovery of evidence that Helen Clark had been involved, they would sue her instead.

At the time that the Prime Minister spoke to the Sunday Star-Times, she had two reports on the incident - from the police and the Police Complaints Authority - neither of which included the "That won't be necessary" phrase.

The police report stated that Mr Doone concluded his conversation with the constable with "We'll be on our way", or words to that effect.

At a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Helen Clark repeated the newspaper's claim that she was not the original source - the police are said to have been - but said she did not have transcripts of the interviews to back up the newspaper's claim that she verified that the phrase had been used. "I don't have evidence that I corroborated it.

"What I would be pretty certain of was that I would have drawn their attention to the fact that the evidence was contested because that is clearly what came through in the reports from both the Police Complaints Authority and from Deputy Commissioner [Rob] Robinson.

"The long and short of it was that whatever Mr Doone said or did, he behaved in a way which inhibited a constable from carrying out his duty."

What the Sunday Star-Times or any media carried had no bearing on the Cabinet's decision.

The two reports and advice from the Solicitor-General "led us to lose confidence".

Mr Doone negotiated a settlement and resigned his position.

Robyn Doone has said the news coverage influenced her husband's decision to resign.

The Act Party has called on Helen Clark to release a transcript of the interviews.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said last night that she had been given access to the reporter's notes that formed part of his evidence for the aborted legal case.

Yesterday was the first day Helen Clark commented fully on the situation after returning from overseas.

She rejected any suggestion that she had volunteered to give evidence for the Sunday Star-Times. She had understood the conversations to be confidential.

"What all journalists might like to reflect on is what the chilling effect of this will be on their interaction with senior politicians, including me."

Fairfax New Zealand, owner of the Sunday Star-Times, said last night that it could not reveal "the full details of what we know" because of legal processes and its commitment to confidentiality with people who provided it with information.

"What we can say is that the full story is not being told at this time, and is not being represented accurately in some public statements and reports," said editor-in-chief Peter O'Hara.

"In the fullness of time the evidence at issue may find an opportunity to speak for itself."