Wellington  - The corruption trial of a former member of the New Zealand Parliament and government minister, Philip Field, was halted before it began on Tuesday when seven of the 12 jurors sworn in the day before were allowed to withdraw.

The judge talked to each of the five women and two men privately and gave no reason for excusing them but the New Zealand Herald website said they had indicated the trial, which is scheduled to last three months, would have placed them in too much hardship.

Field, who was in parliament from 1993 until his defeat in November's general election, pleaded not guilty Monday to 12 charges of bribery and corruption and 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.

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 convicted.

The judge postponed the trial until Wednesday, when he said he hoped five other jurors could be empanelled.

Field was a member of the Labour Party, which was in power at the time of his alleged offences but resigned when it was on the point of expelling him. He stayed in parliament as an independent before being ousted at the election as leader of the Pacific Party, which he formed. (dpa)