Education Ministry whistleblower claims OIA subversion not an isolated incident

The person who leaked a video of an Education Ministry official apparently attempting to subvert the Official Information Act (OIA) claims it was not an isolated incident.

The ministry insider, who RNZ has agreed not to identify, also revealed that they and other ministry staff were repeatedly asked to delete the word "Aotearoa" and other Māori terms from draft curriculums - but the instructions were deliberately verbal and never put into writing.

The person said they were speaking out because they had "had a gutsful".

"I was just so over the dishonesty and the toxicity of the workplace," they said.

The Education Ministry did not address the claims directly in a response to RNZ but Education Minister Erica Stanford said the source of the information was ideologically-driven.

Stanford said there had been no attempts to circumvent the OIA and denied Māori words were reduced in the curriculum.