On December 11, 2018, Newstalk ZB published an item concerning payments that had been made by the North Island Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pou Matakana.
Te Pou Matakana had received funds from the Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, and had paid that money out to its shareholders.
Newstalk ZB accepts that Te Pou Matakana was entitled to receive the funds from Te Puni Kōkiri, was entitled to pay out the sums that it did to its shareholders, and that there was nothing improper about those payments.
The way in which the item was worded could have been taken to mean that John Tamihere personally benefitted from the payments.
Newstalk ZB accepts that Tamihere did not benefit personally from the payments and sincerely apologises to John Tamihere.
