Yesterday, the newspaper apologised for publishing the cartoon which it said was a deeply regrettable error in judgement. It shows two people walking out of a travel agent and one remarking that the least popular spots right now are the ones people are picking up in Samoa. Tremain earlier told RNZ that while it was understandable people were upset, he wouldn't publicly apologise to Samoa for "a simple, light-hearted joke." "If you've read the cartoon, the basis is a travel agent taking the wrong end of the stick and making a stupid comment. It's not causing any more deaths, it's not laughing about deaths, it's laughing about a stupid misunderstanding by a travel agent speaking to somebody.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 03, 2019 19:18 UTC