Maori TV head has few words

By LOUISA CLEAVE

The Canadian who is to head up the Maori Television Service says he will learn to speak te reo Maori.

John Davy, aged 51, said limited knowledge of Maori language and culture should not hinder his ability to run the channel.

He was chosen from a shortlist of six people, including three Maori applicants, because of his strong financial and management skills, said the service's chairman Derek Fox.

Mr Davy was asked yesterday to say the Maori words he already knew.

"Kia ora," he said.

He said his work in countries such as Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, where the language and culture had been different to his own, had been a good learning experience.

He had told the service's board he was willing to take language lessons.

"How proficient I become or how fluent I become I don't know," said Mr Davy.

"But that is something I will have to do in order to present myself to the community."

He is fluent in French and speaks some Spanish. He is married and has two Filipino children, aged 12 and 15. They were still learning English, but might learn Maori as well.

Mr Davy has spent more than 25 years working in business and finance.

He first came to New Zealand last June to work for a company specialising in consumer e-commerce and the internet.

He said the terms of his contract prevented his disclosing the company's name, but it had since relocated to Costa Rica.

He has held chief executive roles with Asia Pacific Investment Advisers in Hong Kong and International Business Partners in Canada and was willing to use his international background to secure extra funding for the channel.

Mr Davy said that he had no direct television experience but understood the "mechanics" of the industry.