Pubdate: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 2001 New Zealand Herald Contact: PO Box 32, Auckland, New Zealand Fax: (09) 373-6421 Website: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Forum: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/forums/ Author: Vernon Small, deputy political editor DRUGS CLAIM SPARKS MORE MUD SLINGING A fragile truce ending a week of mud slinging was broken last night when the Prime Minister accused National of spreading rumours that cannabis was found in Health Minister Annette King's ministerial car. National deputy leader Bill English immediately denied that his party had any part in spreading the story, which appeared in the Evening Post newspaper only hours after Speaker Jonathan Hunt tried to broker peace talks between the scrapping parties. The truce took a further hit last night when the son of the former Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere accused Helen Clark of "hypocrisy," citing an attack in 1998 when he was convicted of possessing cannabis. Jean-Paul Delamere said on TV One's Holmes show: "I have noticed with amazement your call to cease using the families of MPs to score political points. It was not so long ago that you used me to score points against my father while you were Leader of the Opposition." At the time, Helen Clark was mocking National's proposed code of social responsibility which, she was quoted as saying, expected that children would not break the law. "Tell that to Doug Graham's son, who crashed a ministerial car and ran off. Tell it to John Delamere's son, who was up for cannabis possession," she was quoted as saying. Yesterday, a spokesman for Helen Clark said she was "surprised" the Holmes show had made no effort to contact her office for a response. The Prime Minister had referred once in a debate to Jean-Paul Delamere's conviction, which had been on the front page of the Herald, and there were no parallels between her comments and this week's attacks on her husband, Peter Davis. Yesterday, the Evening Post reported that a small quantity of cannabis was found in Mrs King's red Volkswagen after it was written off in a New Year's Eve crash. The newspaper said Mrs King's 30-year-old daughter, Amanda, was driving and a male passenger was also in the car. It cited a source outside the Wellington police, and said it understood the matter was under investigation. Amanda King's lawyer, Mike Behrens, QC, was overseas and could not be contacted. Taupo police told the Herald the officer who had investigated the crash was on holiday. But One News said that when it inquired two weeks ago, police said no drugs were found in the wreck. Mrs King issued a statement saying her daughter had assured her that any accusations she had been in possession of any banned substance in the car were false. The minister brushed off reporters' questions as she went into Parliament. But Helen Clark went back on the offensive, blaming National for spreading the rumour. "The whole style of their politics this year from the day they walked back into Parliament, labelled me as a childless woman and continued personal attacks has been pretty grubby." But Mr English said her claims of National's part in the story about Mrs King's car were rubbish. "We did not know about the story and had nothing to do with it. She was looking for a truce on Tuesday, but has made another wild accusation against us." Earlier, there had been hope the tit-for-tat mud-slinging would end. Education Minister Trevor Mallard's apology for inaccurate claims about Opposition MPs' family members and Mr Hunt's plans for peace talks next week looked set to take some of the heat out of the row. However, the temperature was raised again when National MP Wyatt Creech, who first raised questions about the suitability of Helen Clark's husband to undertake a review of health reforms, called for an apology from the Prime Minister for labelling him a "scumball" and a "sleazebag." His voice shaking with emotion, Mr Creech said he had been seeking information since last year about Professor Davis' Health Research Council grant, and there seemed to be a prima facie conflict of interest. "No abuse or attacks no matter how vitriolic or bitter will stop me asking questions that I believe are valid." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens