Special deal needed for raids on MP

Police at Phillip Field's electorate office yesterday.

Police had to reach agreement with Parliament's Speaker before making a dramatic three-pronged raid in the Taito Phillip Field investigation yesterday.

Detectives swooped on the Labour MP for Mangere's parliamentary office in Wellington and his electorate office and home in Mangere.

Mr Field was not present for any of the searches because he is holidaying in Vanuatu.

His lawyer said he was getting away from media attention.

Police copied computer files and took documents in searches that lasted all day.

Speaker Margaret Wilson issued a statement explaining the unusual circumstances of the raid, which included the sealing of Mr Field's office in Parliament.

The situation had not arisen before, she said, and a protocol had to be agreed with police before the parliamentary search was made.

"It is designed to ensure that any search warrant is executed without improperly interfering with the functioning of Parliament," she said.

"It recognises that parliamentary privilege does not confer any general legal immunity on a member of Parliament."

The Speaker said the agreement stated that a search should not take place when Parliament was sitting.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said last night she knew nothing about the searches until they had happened.

But she was not worried they would be a distraction to the Labour Party's annual conference, which started yesterday in Rotorua.

"It's precisely what you'd expect to happen in the course of a police investigation," the Prime Minister said.

And the timing of the searches was "entirely a matter for the police".

Police began an investigation almost two months ago into allegations that Mr Field accepted cheap labour in return for giving immigration assistance to overstayers.

His lawyer, Simitiva Perese, yesterday said police gave him five minutes' warning of the searches.

"As far as Taito is concerned, he's relaxed. If you want to take stuff, take stuff," he said. "It's the gathering of evidence."

Mr Field is due to return from Vanuatu this weekend, and Mr Perese said police had indicated they would interview him some time next month.

"He'll co-operate fully," Mr Perese said.

Mr Field had gone to Vanuatu to escape constant media attention after the Thai tiler at the centre of work visa allegations spoke out against him.

Nobody recognised Mr Field in Vanuatu, and it was proving to be a good break for him, Mr Perese said.

Police are believed to have "cloned" Mr Field's computers at his offices and home - copying the hard drives rather than taking away the computers.

Mr Field's Massey Rd electorate office is in a rundown white plasterboard house usually open on weekdays from 9am to 3pm.

But yesterday, a police constable stood guard through the day.

A few hundred metres down Massey Rd, police executed a search warrant at Mr Field's 1960s weatherboard home.

At Parliament, security guards kept watch over his office door as police examined the MP's files.

Olinda Woodroffe, the lawyer representing Thai tiler Sunan Siriwan, was positive when she heard about the raids.

She said: "This is what was required - it's a step in the right direction."

- Additional reporting Bernard Orsman and Audrey Young