Wellington - A former member of the New Zealand Parliament and government minister, Philip Field, pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of bribery and corruption when he went on trial in Auckland on Monday.

Field, who was in parliament from 1993 until defeated at November's general election, also denied 23 charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice during an inquiry by a government-appointed attorney into his actions in 2005.

A Samoan New Zealander who has the chiefly title Taito, Field is alleged to have given immigration assistance to a number of Thai people in return for work they did on seven houses he owned in New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga for little or no pay between November
2002 and October 2005.

During that time he was a member of the Labour Party but resigned as it was on the point of expelling him and stayed in parliament as an independent before losing the election as leader of the Pacific Party, which he formed.

Field, the first New Zealand legislator to be charged with bribery and corruption, has maintained his innocence throughout. He faces a seven-year prison sentence if a jury finds him guilty in a trial that is expected to take three months. (dpa)