The Moana Pasifika Super Rugby franchise faces questions over disclosure and transparency at ownership level.

It recently came to light that the team received taxpayer money indirectly through Whanau Ora contracts.

NZ Herald journalist Kate McNamara says it's unclear how much public money funded the team - but investigations are ongoing.

"It may be that all of their funding came from the Whanau Ora contract - but it may be that there's a small amount of funding from another source in there."

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Note: The original story from the NZ Herald has been updated to clarify that Whanau Ora funds flowed to the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust, and the current owner of the Trust and the team, Pasifika Medical Association, has emphasised that no Whānau Ora funds have been used to fund the Moana Pasifika professional rugby team. The Herald has removed from the story the contention that Whānau Ora funds were directly used for the professional team in the fiscal years 22/23 and 23/24.