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The Press
December 1, 2003
Author upset her book not required reading by MPs
A controversial book on the Christchurch Civic Creche case is not officially
available to politicians investigating the need for a top-level inquiry.
Labour MP Tim Barnett, who chairs the justice and Electoral select committee,
said no budget was available for items such as A City Possessed.
A brief summary of its 640 pages has instead been prepared for committee
members weighing the merits of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
Dunedin author
Lynley Hood was "totally thunderstruck" to discover her book would
not be required reading for the 11 MPs.
Hood, who led the petition for an inquiry, said discounted copies could have
been made available by the publisher.
She urged the MPs to search out the full story.
"I think it's fundamental to the credibility of the committee. To ask
for a summary says to me they are not taking the task seriously.
"They have to see what I actually said in context."
Hood said she was not requiring people to accept her stance that former
creche worker Peter Ellis was wrongly convicted of child abuse.
"All I'm asking is for them to read it and make up their own
minds."
Mr Barnett said no money had been set aside for select committees to buy
books that might be relevant to their work.
Told this, Hood said: "I might stand in Lambton Quay and shake a can for
these poor parliamentarians."
Mr Barnett said a number of committee members had, like him, read their own
copies of A City Possessed. However he was unsure how many had read the whole
book.
Competing submissions from the petitioners and the Ministry of Justice will
be the focus of the first select committee hearing on December 10.
A summary of the book was "a good way for people to trace the major
issues," Mr Barnett said.
However Hood was concerned that the multiple page references included in her
response to the ministry's submission would be lost on MPs.
Mr Barnett said Hood would at least be given a copy of the book summary to
correct any factual errors.
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