Editing Michael Laws (section)

=== Resignation from Parliament ===
Laws had also been elected (in October 1995) as a [[Napier City Council|Napier city councillor]]. In that role, Laws awarded a contract to conduct a Napier City Council communications poll to a company part-owned by his wife. This appeared to contravene the Local Government (Members' Interests) Act 1968. Laws claimed "there had been no profit to either company or individuals," and an official inquiry by the [[Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand|Auditor-General]] confirmed it found only a minor and unintentional breach of regulations in not declaring his wife's shareholding.

However, Laws' conduct during the matter attracted strong criticism. Laws had claimed the poll had been carried out by a person named Antoinette Beck, who was supposedly based in Australia. It later became known Beck was not a real person, her signature had been applied by Laws' parliamentary secretary, and that the poll contract had been awarded to Laws' wife's company.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-02-01|title=Praise for Laws traced to his own firm|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3260457/Praise-for-Laws-traced-to-his-own-firm|access-date=2021-05-20|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en}}</ref> After these facts emerged, Laws resigned both from Parliament and the council.

Two of Laws' principal antagonists in the Antoinette Beck affair—Napier city councillors John Harrison and Kerry Single—unsuccessfully sued him for defamation. Laws defended himself in the Napier High Court in December 1997 and the Court awarded costs of over [[New Zealand dollar|NZ$]]200,000 against the joint plaintiffs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}