New Zealand PM apologises over Maori tribe cannibal joke

NEW Zealand’s prime minister had to apologise for joking he would have been eaten if he attended a dinner with a Maori tribe who were once cannibals.

John Key’s remark further soured relations with the Tuhoe people that are already strained over their bid to win back ownership of tribal lands confiscated by a settler government 150 years ago.

The Tuhoe have accused Key of betraying an earlier agreement with the government for the return of their sacred Te Urewera lands on eastern North Island.