Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

TPK freezing funds until wardens sort out accounts

Updated at 6:55 pm on 15 August 2012

Te Puni Kokiri (TPK) says it's frozen the annual grant made to the National Maori Wardens Association until it sorts out its finances.

Parliament grants the wardens $200,000 a year, for youth projects and administration expenses, and the money's administered by TPK.

Association president, Gloria Hughes, was ousted at a national hui at the weekend, claiming the organisation did not have enough money.

A TPK spokesperson Te Rau Clark says the funding from parliament has not changed.

But he says TPK has withheld this year's grant, because the Wardens Association has failed to supply the financial information it must provide on an annual basis.

Mr Clark says the accounts have been untidy and they have not been audited, as required.

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