Whānau Ora rugby funds under investigation: Te Puni Kōkiri, Māori policy advisers launch review

The organisation using taxpayer money to fund rugby team Moana Pasifika is among two agencies subject to a just-launched probe into allegations of inappropriate use of public money.

The review is in aim of safeguarding taxpayer funds, Te Puni Kōkiri secretary for Māori development Dave Samuels said.

The Government’s principal policy adviser on Māori wellbeing and development, Te Puni Kōkiri announced it had started an independent review into two agencies today.

Te Pou Matakana Ltd and Pasifika Futures Ltd are commissioning agencies for Whānau Ora. Both are facing “serious” allegations of inappropriate use of taxpayer funds, said Samuels, who is also chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri.

The Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMA) is one of rugby team Moana Pasifika’s biggest backers. Photo / Photosport

The review will focus on whether the commissioning agencies have met their contractual obligations for the use of those funds, he said.

Te Puni Kōkiri has written to both agencies with a please-explain and seeking clarity on the allegations.

“It is in everyone’s best interest that we find out what happened,” Samuels said.

“We must safeguard taxpayers’ money, which is why I have commissioned a thorough review to get to the bottom of these serious allegations,” he said.

Te Puni Kokiri chief executive and secretary for Māori development Dave Samuels. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Terms of reference for the review and the reviewer would be announced next week, he said.

The Outcome Agreements with Te Pou Matakana and Pasifika Futures were also going to be in scope for the review.

Both agencies’ general commissioning outcome agreements end on Monday. Four new agencies’ contracts with Whānau Ora will begin on Tuesday.

The Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMA) is one of rugby team Moana Pasifika’s biggest backers.

Through its controlled entity Pasifika Futures (also a charity), it has held the lucrative government contract for Whānau Ora commissioning for Pasifika since 2014.

The contract represents more than half PMA’s revenue – in some years it has constituted the vast majority.

The contract is worth $44.35 million in the current financial year, which ends next week; it was also worth $44.35m in 2023/24, $36.34m in 2022/23, and $57.64m in 2021/22.

In three of those years, PMA used the Whānau Ora contract to directly bolster Moana Pasifika’s finances, by $770,000 a year in 2022/23 and in 2023/24.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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