MP questions Maori TV tour

By AUDREY YOUNG

National MP Murray McCully wants to know why Maori television board chairman Derek Fox and board member Joanna Paul are in Canada studying indigenous television.

He raised the question in the Maori affairs select committee after it was revealed the new channel will not commission or make any programmes.



The Te Mangai Paho funding agency will use most of its $14 million annual TV programming budget to make the commissioning selections, provided the channel has agreed to screen the programmes.

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia was appearing at the committee with Leith Comer, chief executive of Maori development ministry Te Puni Kokiri.

Mr Horomia said the channel would do no commissioning.

Mr Comer said the decision on programming selection was made by the board setting up the channel, due to begin on July 1.

The board was offered the choice of whether programming money should go directly to the Maori television service or via Te Mangai Paho.

"They chose Te Mangai Paho because they did not want the Maori television service to build a big in-house programming production which might cut out the smaller private Maori programme makers," Mr Comer said.

Mr McCully wanted to know why the board members were in Canada when it appeared the channel would simply be a transmission service.

Mr Fox and Ms Paul are on a two-week study tour. Mr Horomia said they could "learn heaps" by looking at "well-practised and very successful indigenous channels".

Mr Horomia was also questioned about monitoring the "reducing inequalities" policy - formerly called "closing the gaps" - costing $362 million over four years.

He accepted the committee's concerns that the monitoring process needed to be strengthened, especially on grants paid out under the "capacity building" initiative ($26.5 million last financial year.).

He suggested that disproportionate scrutiny was being paid to the programmes.

"There are too many people in this country who have lived for a long time off the backs of our people - whether it is social services or in the dastardly top-end of some of the crooked practices in commerciality," he said.

"Some of the slippages in this country in this commercial air - dare I mention aeroplanes or other areas like the BNZ - there wasn't too much questioning about it."

Mr Horomia said Maori had assets valued at $5.5 billion and wanted to ensure the Government made better use of their assets.

National MP Georgina te HeuHeu said the assets were nothing to do with the present Government's policies.