Commission structure could save Piripi

4.00pm

Maori Language Commission chief executive Haami Piripi could be saved by the fact his organisation is a crown entity rather than a government department, Te Mangai Paho chairman Wira Gardiner said today.

Mr Piripi is under fire for making a submission on the Foreshore and Seabed Bill, in which he said Maori would never accept the legislation.

"This country could be brought to its knees by internal conflict and perhaps civil war over the coming decades as a direct result of this bill," the Sunday Star-Times quoted the submission as saying.

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia yesterday spoke to commission chairman Patu Hohepa on the matter, expressing his concern about the submission. Mr Hohepa has undertaken to discuss the matter with Mr Piripi and go back to Mr Horomia by the end of the week.

There have been calls for Mr Piripi's resignation but Mr Gardiner today said the commission's structure could save his job.

"If Haami was a core public servant, I think there would be absolutely no doubt about it -- the chief commissioner would probably be acting now and there would have been a different line of approach," he told National Radio.

However, Mr Piripi was responsible to a board, which in turn was responsible to the Maori affairs minister.

"I think the board will need to consider very seriously how they tackle this and certainly censure must be one of the considerations in their mind," Mr Gardiner said.

It appears unlikely Mr Horomia will ask the board to seek Mr Piripi's resignation, with Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday adopting a conciliatory stance.

Miss Clark, speaking at her post-cabinet press conference, repeated her previous comment that the submission was inappropriate but said she had read a transcript of a radio interview Mr Piripi gave this morning.

"I think the tone he struck was clearly apologetic," she said.

"On several occasions he said he apologised for the concern that had been caused... I think it's helpful that he realises that as a public servant of 30 years standing, he went too far."

- NZPA