Not a good look

Another National backbencher is in the news, this time list MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, for allegedly paying off a woman who had previously accused him of making false job offers as part of an immigration scam:

Documents obtained by the Herald show the woman alleged Mr Bakshi made her a false job offer to help her migrate to New Zealand.

But when she and her husband were interviewed in India by an Immigration Service official, they refused to co-operate.

The Immigration Service report on the investigation - obtained under the Official Information Act - says the staff member who tried to interview Kamal Kaur and her husband, Kuldeep Singh, "formed an impression that [they] may have been paid off by Bakshi or one of his supporters".

"There is no evidence to support this impression," the report says.

Mr Bakshi has claimed he was cleared. But the documents show the file was closed because of "insufficient evidence".

It's hardly damning, but its not a good look. And its worth remembering that former Labour MP Taito Phillip Field is currently on trial in the High Court for (among other things) allegedly doing exactly the same thing. This certainly deserves further investigation; there should be no place for MPs who pervert the course of justice in our Parliament.