Smith Lockwood: General Debate 
Smith Lockwood: General Debate 
[Volume:633;Page:4985] 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH (National—Rodney) 
: 
 Today Helen Clark has led Labour to an absolutely new low in standards. Today she told New Zealand that it is an acceptable standard for Labour members in this Parliament not to tell the truth to the immigration authorities of another country or not to tell the truth to an official inquiry set up by the Prime Minister of this country. Taito Phillip Field lied either to the authorities of the Samoan Government or to the Ingram inquiry. It cannot be both ways. He cannot have told the truth to both of them. He must have been dishonest to one or the other yet that is acceptable to Helen Clark and her Labour Government here in New Zealand. This Labour Government will wallow in the stench of corruption over the next few months as it clings to its one-vote majority in this Parliament. It is prepared to tolerate any corrupt practice in order to hang on to that one-vote majority. 
The statement released by Taito Phillip Field today is a stunning statement. It insults the intelligence of New Zealanders. In the statement that he released today Taito Phillip Field says that he never paid below what he understood to be fair market rates for work. He states: “I contracted the work and paid what I understood to be fair market rates for the work.” At 51 Church Street—a property owned by Mr Field—Ingram found that he paid less than a third of the market rate for the work done there. At 2A Prangley Avenue which was the address of another house that Mr Field owned he paid a quarter of the market rate for the work that was done. 
Phillip Field goes on to state: “Dr Ingram’s report makes no adverse finding against my honesty and integrity.” What a joke! Despite Dr Ingram spending months and months on his inquiry—being paid almost half a million dollars in taxpayers’ money—he was unable to find out who painted the entire interior of Taito Phillip Field’s house at 51 Church Street in 2004. One would think that if Taito Phillip Field was being honest he would tell Noel Ingram who painted the entire interior of his house. Would that not be the honest thing to do? But despite months of inquiry Noel Ingram could not find out who painted the interior of the house. Taito Phillip Field told Noel Ingram that he might have done it. I can accept that a person cannot remember all of the details after a period of say 18 months about exactly when and on what days a painting job might have been done. But having done a wee bit of painting myself I know there is no way in the world a human being with an IQ above 10 could possibly forget whether he or she had painted the entire interior of a house. It is not possible. Phillip Field simply was dishonest with Noel Ingram. 
Noel Ingram could not find out who painted 73 Blake Road—another house owned by Taito Phillip Field—in 2004. Why could he not find that out? It was because Taito Phillip Field would not tell him who had painted it. Is that honest? That is the standard that Labour believes is acceptable for Labour MPs. They can lie to the immigration authorities in Samoa and tell them that an applicant for a work visa will work for them then claim to an inquiry set up by the New Zealand Government that no no the applicant was not working for them at all. They can refuse to tell Noel Ingram who is undertaking an official inquiry who painted their house. 
It gets worse though in this Labour Government. When it comes to Taito Phillip Field’s claim that he never sent Mr Siriwan to Samoa to work on his house it is just fascinating. Obviously Sunan Siriwan is an unusual man—he takes his tile-cutting equipment with him when he goes on holiday. When he arrived in Samoa he had his tile-cutting equipment with him! Taito expects us to believe that kind of dishonesty. 
To demonstrate to the House the level of honesty that Labour now expects of its members of Parliament I wish to table an email sent from Taito Phillip Field’s ministerial secretary to his electorate office requiring a new employee in his electorate office to share her salary with Maxine Field Phillip Field’s wife and when queried by Mr Field’s electorate office about that order a further email saying: “Oh well it’s as requested by MP.” 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: It is clear you are wishing to table. You did not need the lead-in words. Leave has been sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is.