Women's Affairs Minister Pansy Wong has rejected a Labour Party accusation that she breached cabinet rules by identifying herself as a minister when she witnessed a business deal involving her husband.The agreement between Lianyungang Supreme Hovercraft L
Women's Affairs Minister Pansy Wong has rejected a Labour Party accusation that she breached cabinet rules by identifying herself as a minister when she witnessed a business deal involving her husband.
The agreement between Lianyungang Supreme Hovercraft Ltd and Pacific Hovercraft New Zealand Ltd was signed in China in September last year.
Mrs Wong's husband, Sammy Wong, is listed as a director of the Chinese company and they were together on a private trip when the deal was signed.
Mrs Wong signed as a witness and put her occupation as "Minister of the NZ Government".
Labour MP Pete Hodgson raised the issue in Parliament today but his questions were ruled out of order for procedural reasons and Mrs Wong didn't have to answer.
He later said Mrs Wong had clearly breached cabinet rules which said ministers shouldn't even give the perception of conflict of interest.
"She's certainly breached that in the sense that she's there as a cabinet minister, that's where the conflict arises," he said.
"Whether this was of value in an Asian context, where the government chop (signature) is worth something, is for people to speculate on. I would be surprised if it didn't have some value."
Mr Hodgson said Mrs Wong would have been in the clear if she had given her occupation as "MP".
But a spokeswoman for Mrs Wong told NZPA the minister had sought Cabinet Advice and hadn't done anything wrong.
"That advice is that there's nothing wrong with witnessing a document as she did," the spokeswoman said.
"The Cabinet Manual wasn't breached, nor was anything else. It's Pete Hodgson once again trying to muckrake and smear and it shows Labour isn't focused on the issues that matter."
