Turia Tariana: Points of Order — Member’s withdrawal from Chamber ; Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises 
Turia Tariana: Points of Order — Member’s withdrawal from Chamber ; Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises 
[Volume:609;Page:6217] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) 
: 
 There is nothing more important to the tangata whenua of this land than the survival and flourishing of our reo. There are two Crown entities charged with responsibility for protecting and promoting te reo Maori. They are the Maori Language Commission Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maoriand Te Mangai Paho. 
The furore in this House over Te Mangai Paho has reached fever speech. It began with conflicts of interest that involved an employee with a past conviction for fraud. I would have thought that that was a management matter. It became an investigation of who did or did not know certain things and who did or did not act. It has now become an issue of when things were known and who did or did not tell. That is nothing to do with te reo Maori which is the important issue for tangata whenua. The chairman of Te Mangai Paho has taken responsibility for the issues raised and he has resigned. The chief executive officer is still under investigation and my colleague the Minister is facing calls to sack him as well. The outrage of the Opposition is way out of proportion to the issues. However those members are baying for blood. Their noses are so close to the ground that they cannot see the bigger picture—that is the performance of Te Mangai Paho. 
Te Mangai Paho was set up to promote Maori language by funding the production and broadcasting of radio and television programmes. For this financial year Te Mangai Paho paid $29 million for 640 hours of television programmes. They include  
Pukana 
 the top children’s programme at the Qantas Media Awards  
Gang Girls 
 the top documentary and  
Marae 
 a 
finalist in the current affairs section. Top quality programmes cost Te Mangai Paho on average just half per episode what mainstream programmes cost. Over 3 years Te Mangai Paho has awarded 229 programme-making contracts of which three defaulted. Over that time it has received excellent audit reports from Audit New Zealand. 
Rodney Hide 
: So what Tame Te Rangi did was OK? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: Is Mr Hide listening? Te Mangai Paho also funds a network of 21 iwi radio stations. Around half the Maori population regularly listens to the iwi radio. Together the stations receive $6 million per year compared with $22 million for National Radio. By those measures Te Mangai Paho is a very successful Crown entity. 
Both Te Mangai Paho and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori were born out of litigation and conflict. They are widely seen as giving Maori control over te reo Maori but in reality they are agents of the Crown and are accountable only to the Crown. Tangata whenua warned that those vehicles were not adequate but their warnings were not heeded. So there is tension built into the very structure of those organisations. It is not easy for them to maintain faith with Maori broadcasters and communities while they operate under the constraints of Crown agencies. 
Despite that people of great integrity and commitment venture into that minefield in order to secure some benefit for our people. They put their careers at risk and they deserve our thanks. If there is a scandal in Maori broadcasting it is the endless attacks on the work and integrity of Maori broadcasters and on the staff of Te Mangai Paho who are helping to keep te reo Maori alive for our future generations.