Newstalk ZB broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan censured by Broadcasting Standards Authority over Pacific Islands 'leeches' claim

Heather du Plessis-Allan faces repercussions over comments made last year. Photo/File.

Newstalk ZB broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan has been censured over comments made on air last September.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) found comments made by du Plessis-Allan, referring to Pacific Islands as "leeches", breached broadcasting standards.

The BSA ordered broadcaster NZME Radio to pay $3000 in costs to the Crown and also broadcast a statement during du Plessis-Allan's show summarising the decision.

The decision and order relates to a talkback discussion about the Prime Minister attending the Pacific Islands forum in Nauru, during which du Plessis-Allan said: "I mean, it's the Pacific Islands. What are we going to get out of them? They are nothing but leeches on us. I mean, the Pacific Islands want money from us. We don't need money from them."

In a follow-on broadcast, she tried to clarify her comments by explaining she was referring to the islands rather the people on the islands.

The BSA considered these subsequent comments disingenuous, saying: "Countries are not just plots of land. They are the land and their people."

The authority determined that the comments breached the good taste and decency and
discrimination and denigration standards as they were inflammatory, devalued the reputation of Pasifika people within New Zealand and had the potential to cause widespread harm.

"[O]n this occasion we found the severity of the comments and their significant potential to cause harm, through distress and denigration, justified the upholding of these complaints and the restriction of the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression," the BSA said.

"We consider that even in the talkback context these statements went too far."

An NZME spokesperson said: "We accept the findings of the BSA and will be abiding by the outcome. We are sorry that the broadcast caused offence."

NZME is the publisher of the Herald.