Newspaper staged 'ridiculous' stunt - PM

A Sunday newspaper has defended a terror stunt, despite being slammed by police and sports officials.

The Government is taking security at next year's Rugby World Cup very seriously and it will be very different to the way provincial games are handled, Prime Minister John Key says.

Today he echoed Friday's criticism by Police Minister Judith Collins of what they both described as a "stunt" by the Sunday Star Times, which sent reporters to Super 14 games in Hamilton and Christchurch carrying toy explosives. Two of their reporters, dressed as construction workers, also accessed restricted zones at Eden Park during last week's cricket international between New Zealand and Australia.

The newspaper reported it had exposed major flaws in stadium safety ahead of the World Cup because its reporters had been able to get in restricted areas.

"In my view the Sunday Star Times actions were a stunt and nothing more than that," Mr Key said at his post-cabinet press conference.

"It wasn't a genuine attempt to demonstrate that there was a security risk for the Rugby World Cup, because if it was they were comparing apples with oranges."

Mr Key would not discuss security for the World Cup, except to say it would be professionally carried out.

"Wandering into a provincial game and somehow arguing that is akin to a World Cup match is ridiculous," he said.

"It's like going to a regional airport in New Zealand and saying the security there is different to what you find at international departures in Auckland. Well yes, it would be."

The newspaper has said it acted responsibly and nobody would have mistaken the toy explosives for real bombs.

- NZPA