Maori ministry chief apologises to Horomia

By AUDREY YOUNG AND WARREN GAMBLE

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia has received an apology from his embarrassed top public servant, Leith Comer, for having supplied him with incorrect answers to parliamentary questions.

Mr Comer, the chief executive of the Maori development ministry, Te Puni Kokiri, is ultimately responsible for Te Mangai Paho, the funding agency for Maori broadcasting.

Its chairman, Toby Curtis, resigned this week after a critical Treasury report confirmed gross conflicts of interest involving a staff member responsible for radio funding and a failure by management to address it.

The job of chief executive Trevor Moeke is clearly under threat - though in an unusual twist, acting chairman Wira Gardiner discovered yesterday that Mr Moeke's employment contract which expired in January had not been formally renewed and is seeking advice from the State Services Commission and the Crown Law Office.

Mr Comer said yesterday that some answers given to Mr Horomia in response to parliamentary questions from Act MP Rodney Hide had been incorrect, but never deliberately so. Some of the incorrect information had come from Te Mangai Paho and some from bodies Te Mangai Paho funded.