Hutchison Paul: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
Hutchison Paul: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:5082] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (NZ National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 It gives me great pleasure once again to speak on the third part of Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Maori Bill. I take up the point that my colleague from ACT Stephen Franks made about Subpart 2A concerning the review of the legislation. It is quite extraordinary that new clause 76A(1) states: “The responsible Ministers”—it does state “Ministers” not even “responsible Minister” and we would hope that there will be clear accountability there—“must as soon as practicable after the expiry of 5 years from the commencement day—(a) commence a review of the operation and effectiveness of this Act in accordance with the terms of reference set by the responsible Ministers;”. 
I am here to try to help the Minister on this occasion. I have put in an amendment that I hope will be a useful contribution. In my last speech I did ask the Minister where the evidence base is that this television service will increase the knowledge of te reo Maori and tikanga Maori on an objective measure in the future. We have seen a dramatic decline in those areas since 1973 and it is absolutely important that the success or otherwise of this station be measured. Consequently I have suggested an amendment to add a new clause 76B which would state: “The responsible Minister must ensure from the beginning of the establishment of the Maori Television Service”—not 5 years later but from the beginning—“that operational research be carried out in order to continuously monitor and measure the efficacy of the Maori Television Service in achieving an objective difference in the number of Maori who are fluent in te reo”. 
I hope that the Minister will take the time to treat that amendment seriously. All too often we lack the operational research needed to assess and monitor whether a particular piece of legislation is indeed effective. Knowing the scarce resources and knowing the various alternatives that are available—as was enunciated by Edwin Perry just a little while ago—to increase the use of te reo and tikanga Maori I think immediately of the kohanga reo organisations and kura kaupapa Maori initiatives in the schools which surely must be extremely pivotal to increasing the knowledge of the matters that this bill is all about. Surely it must be important to have some effective objective measurement right from the beginning of the legislation when it comes into being. I hope that the Minister will take this amendment seriously and will take a call to comment on it. 
When we think of what has happened in the last few years in terms of the television service unfortunately we realise it has been a litany of one mistake after another. If we can ever rescue something out of the unmitigated conglomeration of disasters that have occurred over the last few years—and I will not go over them—it is to make sure that we do such monitoring and measuring right from the start. 
I note that clause 78 “Amendment to Broadcasting Act 1989” states: “Section 53E of the Broadcasting Act 1989 is amended by adding the word ‘; and’ and also by adding the following paragraph: ‘(f) the needs and preferences of—(i) children participating in te reo Maori immersion education; and (ii) all persons learning te reo Maori.’ ” It is absolutely essential that we remind ourselves from the very beginning that that is what this bill is all about.