TPK head defends himself as MPs call for his sacking

3.00pm

Te Puni Kokiri (TPK) chief executive Leith Comer says he has acted with integrity as opposition MPs demand his sacking for his role in the Te Mangai Paho (TMP) fiasco.

National MP Murray McCully and ACT MP Rodney Hide yesterday wrote to State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham asking for an inquiry, pointing to comments Mr Comer made during the controversy surrounding Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia and TMP, the Maori broadcasting agency.

Mr Horomia has been under siege in Parliament as opposition MPs grilled him on the accuracy of his answers about TMP.

Mr Hide and Mr McCully have been trying to prove Mr Horomia gave incorrect answers and did not correct them as early as he should have, which the minister has more or less admitted during a series of chaotic sessions in Parliament.

ACT leader Richard Prebble yesterday said Mr Horomia should be sacked because he was "clearly not in control of his ministry".

Mr McCully and Mr Hide also said Mr Comer should be sacked and asked for an inquiry into TMP.

In a brief statement last night, Mr Comer said he had acted appropriately and with integrity at all times during the inquiry into TMP.

Mr Comer said he would willingly explain matters to Mr Wintringham if that was necessary.

The request for an inquiry is based on comments Mr Comer made at a media briefing on May 30 about incorrect answers Mr Horomia gave to Parliament.

Mr Comer had said he was responsible for the answers being wrong and had apologised to the minister.

However, since then Mr Horomia had told Parliament that Mr Comer's apology was confined to one answer only, Mr McCully said.

He said Mr Comer had given the clear impression he was responsible for all the inaccurate replies which had been exposed in a Treasury report issued on May 28.

However, Mr Horomia had said the apology related to a reply he gave on April 10.

"Any public servant who is going to call the media together and tell them that there is a document which exposes inconsistencies, that he has apologised for those inconsistencies to the minister and taken full responsibility in an attempt to get the heat off the minister, such a public servant is engaging in a rather large enterprise in deceit," Mr McCully said.

"Either the minister has to go, or the chief executive has to go. They can't both be right."

In the letter to Mr Wintringham, Mr McCully and Mr Hide claim "serious misconduct" on Mr Comer's part.

At the root of Mr Horomia's problems are his initial denial that former TMP employee Tame Te Rangi received cash payments from Maori Sports Casting International (MSCI) for commentary work.

At the time Mr Te Rangi was involved in allocating grants to MSCI.

A Treasury inquiry discovered Mr Te Rangi had received the payments, and the report criticised other aspects of TMP's operations.

Mr Horomia has said he received incorrect information from officials, which caused him to make misleading statements in Parliament.

Since then TMP chairman Toby Curtis has resigned and Wira Gardiner has been put in charge of the agency.

The performance of chief executive Trevor Moeke is under review.

- NZPA