NZME reaches settlement with John Tamihere over Mike Hosking comments

John Tamihere. Photo / File

A confidential settlement has been reached between the Herald's publisher NZME and Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere over comments made by broadcaster Mike Hosking.

Proceedings were filed in the High Court last year alleging material in an episode of Mike's Minute, which was broadcast on Newstalk ZB and published on the NZ Herald website in December 2018, "recklessly" defamed Tamihere.

The comments were over $600,000 of taxpayer money paid through Te Puni Kōkiri as part of the Whānau Ora programme.

Hosking - who hosts the Mike Hosking Breakfast show on Newstalk ZB - was listed in court documents as the first defendant, while Newstalk ZB's parent company NZME Radio Ltd and NZME Publishing Ltd were listed as second and third defendants.

Hosking and NZME, the Herald's parent company, initially denied the former Labour Party Cabinet minister and Herald columnist's claims and said it was defending the case.

A confidential settlement between the parties has been reached, with NZME issuing an on-air and published apology to Tamihere, a former Auckland mayoral candidate.

Today, in the High Court at Auckland, Justice Alisa Duffy said the defamation trial which was due to begin in August was now vacated and there was no order as to costs.

This morning, the court-ordered apology was broadcast on Newstalk ZB, on its website, and published on the Herald's website.

It was also read in court today by NZME's lawyer Alan Ringwood to Tamihere, who stood in the witness box to formally receive the apology.

"On December 11, 2018, Newstalk ZB published an item concerning payments that had been made by the North Island Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pou Matakana," Ringwood read.

"Te Pou Matakana had received funds from the Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, and had paid that money out to its shareholders.

"Newstalk ZB accepts that Te Pou Matakana was entitled to receive the funds from Te Puni Kōkiri, was entitled to pay out the sums that it did to its shareholders, and that there was nothing improper about those payments.

"The way in which the item was worded could have been taken to mean that John Tamihere personally benefited from the payments."

Ringwood added NZME sincerely apologises to Tamihere.