Nick Smith has written to the Speaker alleging a breach of privilege by Chris Carter, in that he mislead Parliament over his decision on the Whangamata marina. Carter claimed in Parliament that he did not solicit support for his decision, however, e-mails from Bob Harvey, mayor of Waitakere, have indicated that this is not the case.manual pdf biz c100

These e-mails have been admitted to the High Court as part of the application for judicial review of Carter's veto decision, and appear to indicate that Carter asked Harvey to organise a group to support his veto once he made it public.manual pdf biz c100

It definitely seems to me that this is a prima facie breach of privilege. It may turn out that Bob Harvey was acting more on his own behalf, than on the Minister's behalf, however, the privileges committee should investigate this. Misleading Parliament is a serious offence and needs to be taken seriously.manual pdf biz c100

Unfortunately I have no confidence that the Speaker will refer it - she has previously ignored blatant breaches of privilege by Ministers, and I doubt she is likely to change this pattern.manual pdf biz c100

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