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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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Neither Ablett-Kerr nor
National would confirm speculation yesterday that the 58-year-old
high-profile criminal defence lawyer has been selected for a high place on
the party list, virtually guaranteeing her a seat in Parliament. Sources in National
confirmed the reports were correct, but said no announcement would be made
until May 28, when the party plans to announce its election-year line-up. Party president Judy
Kirk has been searching for high-profile people to boost the party's list for
this year's election campaign. Under National's rules, the party's board can
select up to five people for top list spots who do not have to go through the
usual nomination processes. While National
candidates must normally have been a member of the party for 12 months, there
is an exemption provided for candidates who have held positions where party
political membership is inappropriate. National leader Don Brash was
nominated under this exemption in 2002, when he quit the Reserve Bank to stand
for Parliament. Once dubbed The Cleaner
for her ability to tidy up the messes left behind by the less competent,
Ablett-Kerr has defended some of New Zealand's highest-profile criminally
accused. She successfully
defended Dunedin scientist Vicki Calder in the "poisoned professor"
case in 1996, after Calder was accused of attempting to murder her former
lover, David Lloyd. Calder was aquitted after two trials. Ablett-Kerr also
defended Christchurch mother of six Gay Oakes, who was convicted of murdering
de facto partner Douglas Gardner in 1993 and burying his body in the garden.
Ablett-Kerr took the case all the way to the Privy Council but failed to
overturn the conviction using a controversial defence of battered women's
syndrome. Ablett-Kerr succeeded in
securing Oakes's release on parole in 2002, to the fury of Gardner's family. Perhaps her best-known
client is Peter Ellis, who was jailed in 1993 for 10 years on charges of
abusing children at the Christchurch civic creche. Ellis was released in
2000, but Ablett-Kerr has continued to campaign for a royal commission of
inquiry into Ellis's conviction. Ablett-Kerr first met
Brash and MP Katherine Rich when the MPs collected signatures nationwide for
Ellis in 2003, before Brash became leader. A spokeswoman for
Ablett-Kerr said yesterday that she did not want to comment on the reports at
this stage. "We have been
instructed to return everyone's calls. Thank you very much for your interest,
but she does not propose to comment at this point in time on speculation she
is to be a National Party candidate," Ablett-Kerr's chambers in Dunedin
said. Brash said he accepted
there would be a lot of interest in the party's list, "given the
opportunity to inject new talent to Parliament, compared to the tired old
retreads in Labour". He said National would
not be pre-announcing its list. Kirk also refused to
confirm the Ablett-Kerr speculation, saying National would announce its list
on May 28. "There's a lot of speculation about who they might be. All
sorts of names, some I've never heard of." Kirk said the board was
still going through the process of sorting its list rankings. A spokesman for Justice
Minister Phil Goff said the Minister had no problem with Ablett-Kerr standing
for National. She had not been political in her legal career and had not been
overly critical of the Government. "She's got a bee
in her bonnet about Ellis but she defended him. I'd be reluctant to criticise
her for that," Goff's spokesman said. Born in Wales, the
daughter of a wine merchant, Ablett-Kerr studied law at the University of
London. She practised law in Britain from 1970 until she came to New Zealand
23 years ago, and became New Zealand's third female QC in 1995. She is
married with two sons. A self-described
royalist and "unashamed traditionalist", Ablett-Kerr was appointed
an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. As chairwoman of the
Law Society's criminal law committee, Ablett-Kerr was closely involved in the
development of the Government's "clean slate" legislation that
requires criminal records to be sealed for minor convictions more than 10
years old if a person has committed no further crimes |
