Taito Field inquiry draft completed

A draft report of the inquiry into Taito Phillip Field has been completed and sent to the Labour MP.

Mr Field is under investigation into potential conflict of interest for asking a ministerial colleague to grant a work permit to a Thai overstayer who tiled his house in Samoa.

A separate controversy involves a house in Otahuhu, which Mr Field bought from a family when they risked losing it in a mortgagee sale and sold 16 months later for a $136,000 profit.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark today said a draft report had been completed and sent to Mr Field, who would now have a chance to respond.

Helen Clark had not seen the draft and did not expect to see any details until the final report had been completed.

She had no expectation on when it would be completed, he said.

Mr Field, Mangere MP and former associate minister of Pacific Island Affairs, was stripped of his ministerial roles in September last year, when the inquiry was ordered by the Prime Minister.

Noel Ingram QC is conducting the inquiry, which as well as the tiling and house-buying allegations, is looking into claims that another Thai overstayer painted four houses for Mr Field in New Zealand.

The inquiry was initially meant to be concluded early in October last year, but Helen Clark has since said it will take "as long as necessary".

- NZPA