Beehive diaries: Diplomatic incident in the Rainbow Room

Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta during their joint media conference at Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION:

It's a recess week at Parliament, which means that things are a bit quieter around the traps.

But politics stops for no one - and it certainly didn't stop for Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who had the crucial job of entertaining her Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele in Wellington this week.

The meeting was an important one for New Zealand given Solomon Islands has positioned itself closer to China in the touchy geopolitical battle for the Pacific.

Foreign visitors are usually hosted in the Beehive, Parliament's executive building, but for room-booking reasons, Manele was hosted in Parliament House itself. It wasn't the decision to host Manele in Parliament that raised eyebrows, it was the Government's decision to host him in Parliament's Rainbow select committee room, a room that pays tribute to Parliament's LGBT MPs. Homosexual activity is illegal in Solomon Islands - although apparently this is not enforced. Was the Government trying to make a statement? Or was this a very bad diplomatic faux pas?

Mahuta left reporters none the wiser.

When asked why the meeting was hosted in the Rainbow Room, Mahuta said it was the "only room available" - only it wasn't, Parliament is in recess and most other select committee rooms were empty.

And on whether this was a faux pas or a statement, Mahuta said she told Manele from the beginning where the pair would be meeting.

"I made that queer ... clear ... at the beginning," Mahuta said, making a Freudian slip.

Saying the quiet bit out loud

Media executives piled onto a Select Committee Zoom this week to have their 2 cents on the Government's proposal to merge TVNZ and RNZ into a single entity.

Concerns ranged from editorial independence to the effect it would have on advertising revenue.

Pity the poor journalists (if you can) summoned to dutifully report on their bosses' submissions.

Awkwardness abounded. RNZ and TVNZ chief executives Paul Thompson and Simon Power offered criticisms of the bill while also subtly, not so subtly positioning themselves as the one who might potentially lead it.

Journalists covering the meeting were in the awkward position of reporting remarks made by their bosses that the merger might pump up journalists' pay.

Pity in particular the reporters from Stuff, who had to listen to chief executive Sinead Boucher warn that the companies that will be merged into the entity were already using their market power and potential public funding to poach staff with pay offers above what Stuff thinks is market rate for their services - 30 per cent more in some cases.

Having a pop at the merged entity for keeping journalists' wages down might not be a winning argument to a Labour Government.

Credit to the Stuff journalist who covered the select committee hearing, who put his boss' remarks about his company's pay right at the top of his story on the select committee. He probably deserves a raise.