By AUDREY YOUNG, political editor
The Prime Minister wants a code of conduct for MPs after the Auditor-General's report into the financing of organisations associated with MP Donna Awatere Huata.
And she is also defending any role Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia may have played in approving financing while he was head of the Community Employment Group (CEG) in the Labour Department before entering Parliament in 1999.
"I am sure that anything that was given was given in good faith and probably for a good cause," Helen Clark said.
"If I were him, I would have enormous difficulties remembering details of anything that happened five or six years ago. It's just not possible."
The report detailed pressure Mrs Awatere Huata exerted over ministers and officials for funding proposals as an MP - and at the frequent failure of funding organisations to meet their guidelines in managing grants.
In one of the several case studies in the report, it singles out a $40,000 CEG grant - approved when Mr Horomia was in charge - as a final payment without checking that work contracted for had been done.
Helen Clark said a code of conduct for MPs was required and it could be added to the bill before Parliament requiring all MPs to declare their financial interests.
"One of the useful things about the report is that it identifies we may need a much clearer code of conduct for members of Parliament and how they interact with ministers and Government officials and lobbying.
"By the sound of it, a lot of that lobbying was pretty heavy."
PM wants code of conduct for MPs
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