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."