PM forced to apologise for making cannibal tribe joke

NEW Zealand's prime minister was forced to apologise yesterday 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 already strained relations with the Tuhoe people.

The Tuhoe have accused Mr Key of betraying an earlier agreement for the return of their sacred Te Urewera lands on the eastern North Island, which were confiscated 150 years ago.

Mr Key was addressing a tourism conference when he made a reference to the dispute and having a meal with leaders of a neighbouring tribe.

"The good news was I was having dinner with Ngati Porou as opposed to the Tuhoe – in which case I would have been the dinner," he said.