Labour stokes fire under Shipley

By Audrey Young

political reporter

Another complaint has been laid with the Speaker after Prime Minister Jenny Shipley's first detailed response to TVNZ's story that she invented the figure of $1 million paid to newsreader John Hawkesby.

Mrs Shipley last night damned Labour's complaint as a time-wasting, petty political stunt.

She weathered a stormy session in Parliament, firstly offering a personal explanation. In it she said that at no stage had TVNZ contacted her office to verify her version of events about the alleged comments before it ran the story on Thursday.

In fact, at a press conference an hour before the One Network News bulletin, Mrs Shipley repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether she had spoken the words.

Labour lodged a letter with the Speaker, Doug Kidd, last night alleging Mrs Shipley had misled the House.

Mrs Shipley's senior spokesman, John Goulter, said he expected that for a story in which TVNZ claimed to be the source, it would have told Mrs Shipley what it was to run and asked for her response to it.

Paul Cutler, TVNZ's managing editor of news and current affairs, agreed that Mrs Shipley had not been told what would be said in the bulletin.

"I'm quite satisfied that that was purely consistent with our behaviour with similar stories."

On Thursday, Alliance list MP John Wright had asked in Parliament if it was true Mrs Shipley had said she made up the figure.

Mr Goulter had been told at 4 pm by TVNZ's political editor, Linda Clark, that it was true.

Mr Cutler said the implication of having told Mr Goulter was that it would be on the news that night.

The Prime Minister had then been questioned about it at a press conference.

Mrs Shipley said last night: "On a matter that TVNZ thought was so extraordinary that it abandoned its normal rule not to report alleged conversations in social situations, I would have expected the reporter to have come to my office saying TVNZ now planned to run a story it had been sitting on for three days and to seek my explanation. She did not."

Mrs Shipley erroneously claimed on TVNZ's Crossfire programme nine days ago that Mr Hawkesby received $1 million after leaving the state broadcaster this year.

She later admitted she was wrong and apologised. But on Thursday, after Mr Wright's claims in Parliament, Linda Clark said Mrs Shipley told her in flippant mood that she had made up the figure.

The Speaker on Monday dismissed a Labour complaint Mrs Shipley had misled the House in claiming last week she believed the dispute had been settled.

In yesterday's explanation, Mrs Shipley confirmed her error about the figure had been based on briefing from the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Tony Ryall.

But the biggest point of contention was not over Mrs Shipley's explanation, but what Labour could do after it.

Deputy Speaker Geoff Braybrooke ruled that Labour MP Trevor Mallard could not question Mrs Shipley because she had already said she had not made up the figure and her word had to be accepted.

A row then ensued between Mr Mallard, supported by Labour leader Helen Clark, and Mr Braybrooke about the difference between Mrs Shipley denying she had invented something and denying that she said she had invented something.