PHIL KITCHIN - The Dominion Post

Police have inquired into a phone call Solicitor-General David Collins made to a government department boss, which is believed to have led to a lawyer's sacking.

The call was made to Conservation Department director-general Al Morrison and has been linked to the firing of Sue Grey, who worked as a lawyer for the department. She was sacked three weeks after the phone call.

Ms Grey's partner - former Green MP Ian Ewen-Street - believes Dr Collins made the telephone call because she is a lawyer in a Supreme Court case involving Dr Collins' boss, Attorney-General Michael Cullen.

Mr Ewen-Street has laid a complaint with police. He believes Dr Collins has an interest in the outcome of the case because it now involves a Supreme Court judge and Dr Cullen, who has been joined to the case as a defendant.

Dr Collins says he is "very confident" police will find no case to answer.
 

In the August 26 phone call, Dr Collins told Mr Morrison that Ms Grey had a conflict of interest because she worked for DOC, but she was also involved in a private capacity in the Saxmere case, a court case alleging judicial bias.

The phone call came two days after a Sunday Star-Times article about a Supreme Court judge's multimillion-dollar business relationship with a top lawyer in the Saxmere case.

After speaking to Dr Collins, Mr Morrison phoned Ms Grey at 9.30am the same day and asked about her involvement in the Saxmere case. He said he wanted the issue resolved quickly because of media interest.

She told him that DOC had already agreed to her working on the case till it ended. She said her bosses were informed throughout, and the case was "completely separate" from her work for DOC.

Despite this, she offered to resign from DOC that day. Her offer was refused. Three weeks later, Mr Morrison fired her by e-mail.

Mr Morrison, a former journalist, recorded his phone conversation with Ms Grey without telling her. He told The Dominion Post it was the only call he has taped as DOC director-general and he did it because of the "significance of the issue".

He expressed concern to Ms Grey that her clients were "suing" Dr Cullen while she was working for DOC - and said her roles were in conflict.

The call came after the focus of the Saxmere case - a legal scrap over Wool Board money - switched to argument about whether former Court of Appeal judge Justice Bill Wilson had a potential conflict of interest in the case.

This centres on whether Justice Wilson fully disclosed his joint ownership ofa multimillion-dollar racehorse stud with barrister Alan Galbraith, QC, who represents the Wool Board in the Saxmere case.

Mr Galbraith successfully argued an earlier appeal in the case, on which Justice Wilson, and two other judges, ruled. Ms Grey was a lawyer for the losing side.

Dr Collins, as legal adviser to Dr Cullen, was involved in giving advice on the appointment of Justice Wilson as a judge, and his rapid promotion to the Supreme Court.

Mr Ewen-Street believes Dr Collins should not have personally given Mr Morrison advice about Ms Grey in the phone call, as such advice could be seen as trying to influence the outcome of the Saxmere case.

Dr Collins rejects this, saying he had not discussed Ms Grey's involvement in the case with Dr Cullen's office before calling Mr Morrison. He also says he does not appoint judges.

He says he told Dr Cullen of the subsequent police inquiry after Mr Ewen-Street's complaint. He insists he has no conflict of interest and it would have been "remiss" of him not to call Mr Morrison about Ms Grey's involvement with the Saxmere case and of Dr Cullen being joined to the proceedings.

Mr Ewen-Street says the situation was compounded by Mr Morrison's refusal to accept Ms Grey's initial offer to resign. "Instead he repeatedly pressured her to drop the Supreme Court case, a case DOC told Sue she could continue to work on when she joined DOC."

He says she suggested standing down from DOC to manage the "perceived conflict of interest" till the Saxmere case ended - but ended up being sacked instead.

Mr Morrison says the latest development is "nothing more than an employment issue" and he is satisfied he acted fairly.

He says he did not pressure Ms Grey to remove herself from the case and acted on the basis of "my own view and not the solicitor-general's". An independent Queen's Counsel advised him on whether Dr Collins may have had a conflict of interest, considering his junior status to the attorney-general and involvement in Justice Wilson's appointment.

Mr Morrison says he has been interviewed by police after the complaint laid by Mr Ewen-Street but is not aware of any continuing investigation.

THE KEY PLAYERS

* SUE GREY, lawyer. In 2006 Ms Grey was appointed a DOC solicitor. In 2003 she stood aside from her role advising clients involved in Parliament's scampi inquiry when she developed a relationship with inquiry member Ian Ewen-Street, then a Green MP. She has been involved in the wool growers' legal fight since 2003.

* DAVID COLLINS, solicitor-general. The Government's chief legal adviser, Dr Collins was appointed by Attorney-General Michael Cullen. Dr Collins advises Dr Cullen on judicial appointments to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

* MICHAEL CULLEN, attorney- general. Dr Cullen is in charge of Crown Law and is responsible for the administration of the law. His fundamental responsibility is to act in the public interest.

* AL MORRISON, DOC director- general. A former newspaper journalist and Radio New Zealand political editor.

* JUSTICE BILL WILSON. Appointed a High Court and Court of Appeal judge in February 2007, and 10 months later to the Supreme Court. He jointly owns Rich Hill Stud with barrister Alan Galbraith and others. Justice Wilson was one of three appeal court judges who overturned the wool growers' High Court win.

* ALAN GALBRAITH, Queen's Counsel. A former Rhodes Scholar and high-profile barrister specialising in commercial and constitutional and administrative law. He was the lead lawyer for the Wool Board.