Tamihere to present his case

By AUDREY YOUNG

Suspended Cabinet minister John Tamihere will this morning present his defence case to Wellington lawyer Douglas White, who is investigating some of Mr Tamihere's financial affairs involving the Waipareira Trust.

It is understood the Business Roundtable chairman, accountant Rob McLeod, who is a friend and fellow member of the Ngati Porou tribe, has lent a hand to Mr Tamihere.

The Serious Fraud Office last night confirmed it would conduct an investigation into transactions in 1998 and 1999 involving $100,000 of Waipareira Trust money, which a forensic investigation company found was paid on dubious invoices.

An SFO investigation was always on the cards.

But the announcement adds weight to the expectation that Mr Tamihere will have to stand down from the Cabinet after the White inquiry, even if it technically clears him.

Prime Minister Helen Clark publicly leaned in that direction yesterday, conceding Mr Tamihere might have misled the public in having accepted a severance payment from the trust.

But she is also unlikely to reinstate him to the Cabinet while the slow-moving SFO makes inquiries.

It is not unusual for the office to take many months to conclude inquiries.

The Waipareira Trust, where Mr Tamihere was once chief executive, commissioned the forensic inquiry, but sources close to him say it was Mr Tamihere himself who referred the issue to the SFO on October 29.

It is also understood the chief financial officer under Mr Tamihere, Mike Tolich, has signed a statement which effectively distances Mr Tamihere from the transactions.

SFO director David Bradshaw said in a statement that given the public interest in the matter and the nature of the allegations, it was an appropriate matter for his office to investigate.

"Mr Tamihere was the chief executive of the Waipareira Trust at the time, and as might be expected, his signature, along with the signature of others, appears on some of the documentation.

"Until I have investigated the matter fully, I cannot confirm that the invoices were in fact false, nor if they do prove to be false am I able to say at the moment who was responsible for the documents or what happened to the money."

He said it was impossible to say how long the investigation would take but "the matter will be dealt with expeditiously".

Helen Clark shifted her tone in Parliament yesterday, when she answered Opposition questions for the first time in two weeks.

It has been revealed that Mr Tamihere accepted severance pay from Waipareira that he had earlier publicly refused, and that tax had not been paid on it. The trust has since accepted liability for the tax.

Helen Clark failed to express confidence in him and said there was "a prima facie case" against him in terms of his having misled the public.

"An inquiry has been set up to look at allegations made about Mr Tamihere.

"I am suspending judgment on those matters and on confidence until that inquiry is completed."

Asked by National leader Don Brash if she accepted that Mr Tamihere misled the public in taking the payment she said: "Prima facie, I have a concern about that, as the member does, which is why I am making further inquiries."

NZ First leader Winston Peters referred to Helen Clark's "very superior behaviour" in 1997 over the $89 underpants bought by former NZ First MP Tukoroirangi Morgan.

He asked why she was looking around for some sort of guilty party "when the fingerprints, DNA, and blood are all over the floor".

Helen Clark replied that the Government was taking the allegations "very seriously".

Mr Peters asked why, if Mr Tamihere had clearly misled the Prime Minister, an inquiry was needed "when he should have been sacked for that alone".

Helen Clark: "Prima facie, I share that member's concern. I am endeavouring to gather all relevant information before coming to a final judgment."

Close friend and colleague Dover Samuels said yesterday morning that the Maori caucus was "fully behind" Mr Tamihere.

"As far as we are concerned, if John Tamihere hasn't done anything wrong, it is up to the Prime Minister to reinstate him but I would suggest we will wait until the inquiry is done."

Helen Clark sacked Mr Samuels as Maori Affairs Minister in 2000 before he was cleared of allegations of sexual impropriety.