Disgraced former MP Taito Phillip Field has broken his silence surrounding his conviction for bribery and corruption charges and apologised at a community meeting in South Auckland.
Field was found guilty of 11 charges of bribery and corruption and 15 charges of obstructing justice following a lengthy jury trial in August. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.
The former Labour Party MP spoke to about 60 people in his former electorate of Mangere in South Auckland on Friday night.
Field was given a warm welcome at the meeting.
He told the audience he had genuine remorse and regret for the way the situation turned out, and will accept whatever sentence he is given.
But Field also said his conscience is clear, and denied any wrongdoing.
He also said many things have yet to come to light before the truth behind his dishonesty convictions are revealed.
"I do have a genuine regret in allowing a lack of contribution of lack of detail that may have avoided this situation," he said.
"There's also flaws in some of the enforcement agencies of this country. I want to particularly raise some concerns, with the way people treat the truth and the fairness of process."
Field told the predominately Pacific Island audience that he was sorry to the people of Mangere and to all of New Zealand for allowing things to turn out the way they did.
He said he is remorseful and regretful for the circumstances which led to the trial.
Field said though his conscience is clear and he would accept whatever sentence he received, he did not believe the matter should end there.
