15 Apr 2014

Media ban not sensible - PM

7:56 am on 15 April 2014

It was not sensible for a kohanga reo hui to ban a current affairs programme from a media conference, Prime Minister John Key says.

The Government has asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the business division of Te Kohanga Reo National Trust, after Maori Television's Native Affairs programme carried a series of stories on the movement.

During the weekend, Native Affairs reporters were not allowed to attend a news conference at a national meeting on the future of how the Maori language pre-schools are run - a move Mr Key said was not sensible.

The kohanga trust received a considerable amount of government funding and should be held to account and scrutiny like any other agency which received money, he said.

As well, there were still open questions about the kohanga trust's subsidiary, Te Pataka Ohanga, Mr Key said.