Wife of MP who quit was GM firm lawyer

By FRANCESCA MOLD, political reporter

Labour MP David Cunliffe quit an inquiry into the corngate scandal to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest caused by his wife acting as a lawyer for a seed company.

The Local Government and Environment select committee is investigating claims that a GM-contaminated crop was accidentally released in New Zealand in 2000.

Mr Cunliffe was the committee's deputy chairman until he left suddenly on April 3, citing workload reasons.

But it was claimed in Parliament yesterday that the real reason Mr Cunliffe stepped down was because his wife, Karen Price of law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, had acted for Pacific Seeds Ltd.

The Queensland-based company was caught up in a scare last year, after it notified the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that maize produced in New Zealand tested GM positive.

National MP Nick Smith said it was "scandalous" that Mr Cunliffe had failed to disclose the conflict of interest to the committee. He said the Labour MP had been pivotal in watering down the inquiry's terms of reference, blocking the appointment of a technical adviser and stopping further testing of the corn.

"This is like a judge not declaring that his wife is acting for the defence," said Dr Smith.

Dr Smith said the committee was extremely tense, and had been at "war" over the inquiry. Mr Cunliffe had been leading the charge for Labour.

But Mr Cunliffe said there was no conflict of interest. His wife had never worked for a client involved in the 2000 sweetcorn scare.

Mr Cunliffe said he stepped aside because he needed to spend more time on his work as a Parliamentary private secretary for finance, revenue and commerce.

He was also concerned that "possible perception issues" related to his wife's work as an environmental lawyer could be used to undermine the integrity of the inquiry.

Mr Cunliffe sought advice from the Clerk of the House before stepping down.

The Clerk told him no conflict existed.