KEY POINTS:
MP Taito Phillip Field, who has been expelled by Labour, is refusing to rule out joining another party.
Labour's hierarchy last night cut Mr Field loose after interviews on both TV networks suggesting he might stand for Parliament as an independent if he failed to win Labour selection.
Parliament's Speaker Margaret Wilson today confirmed he had been thrown out off the Labour Party.
Mr Field was today non-committal when asked if he would join another party or vote with them.
"That depends really on the issues, depends on where I believe the interests of my constituents and the wider constituency of New Zealand is at."
Newstalk ZB reported him as saying the Maori Party was the obvious alternative party for him.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said for a party that has benefited from Pacific Island votes, Labour's moves to expel the Mangere MP appear to have been imposed without due consideration for the views of those people.
Mr Field also said today that his comments regarding the next election were based on a hypothetical situation posed by a reporter and were taken out of context.
He felt he had been poorly treated by the Labour Party and would not rule out quitting his south Auckland seat and forcing a byelection in the Labour stronghold.
"That's something that needs to be considered if the time comes, and it depends also in relation to this police investigation where that leads to," he said on Radio New Zealand.
However, he said on most issues his constituency supported Labour's policies and he had not made a conscious decision to leave the party.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Labour Party president Mike Williams issued a statement last night saying his comments were unacceptable and they were moving to expel him from the party.
He was immediately suspended from the party's caucus.
Mr Field said the timing of his comments, which overshadowed Helen Clark's speech to Parliament on its first sitting day of the year, were not calculated.
It was an emotional response to the constant battering he had received in the media, climaxing in Helen Clark's comments on Monday that his behaviour had been "unethical" and "immoral".
Mr Field has said he intends to stay in his $150,000 a year job to the next election even if police charge him.
His Mangere electorate chair Tafafunaui Tase Lauese told Radio New Zealand today he was surprised by Mr Field's comments, which were likely to divide opinion among his supporters.
The Prime Minister said today Labour had exercised "patience beyond endurance" in relation to Mr Field but his latest comments were the final straw.
Mr Field has agreed to be interviewed by police who are close to concluding their investigation into bribery and corruption allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing.
When Mr Field returns to Parliament he will be seated on the opposition benches.
National Party leader John Key said on Radio New Zealand that if Mr Field had been a National MP he would have been dealt with far quicker.
He said the Labour-led Government was already a "lame duck" which only had half as much legislation on Parliament's order paper as it had in 2002.
- NZPA
