By GILBERT WONG arts editor
A co-author of the Heart of the Nation report says he will sue associate culture minister Judith Tizard if she does not stop her "ignorant" criticism.
Consultant Richard Miller said Ms Tizard's claims that the report failed to fulfil its brief and contained statistical errors were wrong.
Ms Tizard has labelled the report backward-looking and initially refused to release the full report. But it will now be released on Tuesday.
Mr Miller, of the strategic planning firm McDermott Miller, said the Heart of the Nation panel felt they were being treated with contempt.
"I'm professionally neutral, but some of those people feel that they've been treated shabbily.
"The aspersions on our technical competence are to be regretted.
"If they go on too far, we will take them on through the courts. That's the only place for it.
"If statements are made and they are made on the basis of ignorance, the first thing that is done is they are warned about it. If they keep on making them they get to the point of being defamatory."
After first saying she would not release the report in its original form, Ms Tizard said the report, commissioned at a cost of $220,000, could not be released until the issue of who owned the copyright was clarified.
The minister said the 450-page report on the creative and cultural sector was stamped copyright. Mr Miller was surprised when told of the minister's problem.
The Heart of the Nation panel are not in accord. Member Rob Garrett, a Dunedin artist and art lecturer, said yesterday that he agreed with Ms Tizard's comments that the report did not address the issues it was meant to, and he felt disquiet with some of the report's content.
Ms Tizard did not return calls to her office yesterday.
Arts author: Tizard wrong
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.