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TVNZ chief Rick Ellis has won support from an unexpected quarter after his political bosses slapped him for citing shows such as Police Ten-7 and Animal House as examples of Maori inclusion in television programmes.
Hone Edwards, appointed in 2003 as TVNZ's kaihautu (guardian) of Maori programming, was made redundant by Mr Ellis two weeks ago as part of the company's restructuring.
But Mr Edwards defended his former boss yesterday over a list Mr Ellis gave to the Maori affairs select committee as examples of general programming that had a Maori presence.
The list included Shortland Street, Ten Years Younger, Location Location, Animal House, Game of Two Halves, and Police Ten-7.
It prompted Prime Minister Helen Clark to say Mr Ellis needed to take "a course in intercultural understanding".
"It isn't appropriate to point to a range of mainstream programmes and say that they convey a Maori perspective. Frankly, they don't."
But Mr Edwards said that although Mr Ellis could have been more "selective", politicians had to face reality.
"I know what they are saying, but the issue here is if you put programmes in prime time that don't rate, then it is commercial suicide. And Maori programmes don't rate. I'm absolutely convinced of that.
"So the only solution we could find was to look for opportunities in prime-time formats that did work to use Maori people and in which some of the kaupapa [foundation] was Maori."
But the examples used raised the ire of the Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and National MP Georgina te Heuheu, who said programmes such as Police Ten-7 portrayed "negative stereotypes of Maori as underachievers and criminals".
The TVNZ charter requires the company to deliver shows directed specifically at Maori issues and to ensure Maori are represented in other programmes.
TVNZ stood its ground yesterday and sent the Herald a copy of a letter from the Maori Language Commission praising Shortland Street for its handling of a tangi as "a great example of what can be achieved in mainstream prime-time programming when appropriate Maori content is included".
On Radio New Zealand National's Nine to Noon yesterday, Mr Ellis admitted Police Ten-7 was not a good example but defended the other shows.
He said the charter required TVNZ to reflect the "full diversity" of New Zealand "and so why wouldn't you expect to have a solid Maori presence on all genres of programming, not just programmes in te reo?"
In Parliament, Mrs te Heuheu asked the Government if it was a deliberate decision to include Maori individuals in such shows simply to fulfil charter obligations, claiming to do so was "a distasteful policy".
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said TVNZ was in a "killed if you do and killed if you don't" situation. "If one has Maori represented, then, presumably, the argument from some is that that is some kind of apartheid. If one does not have Maori represented, then the argument is that the programme is unrepresentative."
Mike King, who features on Game of Two Halves, also defended Mr Ellis, claiming he had been treated unfairly.
Shane Jones, who chairs Labour's Maori caucus, was also in support, saying the Maori Party's claims were "a massive over-reaction".
TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said disestablishing Mr Edwards' position was not a resiling from TVNZ's commitment to Maori, but was because Mr Ellis felt all of his managers were ready to take responsibility for Maori content, rather than just one person.
Mr Edwards said he had wanted to serve only three years in the role, so when redundancy was offered "I took the money and ran".
A former producer, director and reporter, as well as programmer for Maori Television, he hoped to get back into production work.
Ms Richards said TVNZ was reviewing its Maori programming division and would look at the respective roles of TVNZ and Maori Television.
She said the MPs were told TVNZ still had a crucial role to play in Maori programming and intended to compete.
