Kedgley Sue: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
Kedgley Sue: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:5018] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 I rise to put forward a very non-controversial amendment that I am hoping all members of the House will support. Indeed I am expecting even the members from ACT to support this amendment because it seeks simply to strengthen the political independence of the Maori Television Service. It is extremely important that we ensure the preservation of the independence of that service because it is more or less totally dependent on Government funding. Hopefully there will be some advertising and the ability to enter into some agreements with other interests but basically it will be totally dependent on the Government. So it is important—because we know the old expression about he or she who pulls the purse strings—that we try to include in the legislation as many provisions as we possibly can to preserve the independence of the Maori television service. 
There is an existing section on independence in the existing Act but it is extremely weak. It asks only for the responsible members of Te Putahi—I am sorry I am having to think with my colleagues chatting loudly next door. What I am saying is that the existing provisions may look all right on the surface but in fact they would enable many other persons to give directions to the service. What the legislation states is that responsible Ministers must not direct the service but it does not refer to any other Minister directing the service or any person acting by or on behalf of the direction of the Minister and so forth. All I have done is to take the provisions about political independence that are in the Television New Zealand Bill and included them in an amendment that will make it clear that it is not just the responsible Ministers who may not direct the service with respect to a particular programme and so forth but also any other Ministers or any person acting by or on behalf of or at the direction of any Minister. 
It is important because I think there is real potential for political interference in Maori television from the “person who pays the piper”. There may be a temptation to try to pull the strings and so the potential would exist for political interference. All that the amendment seeks to do very non-controversially is to strengthen the provisions so that they are virtually identical to the provisions in the Television New Zealand Bill so that a Minister will not be able to interfere with a particular programme allegation or complaint in the gathering or presentation of news or preparation of current affairs or programme standards. 
The amendment is focused on protecting the editorial content of Maori television programmes from political interference. It is not talking about other issues like financial issues. It is simply saying that there may not be ministerial interference in the editorial direction of a particular programme the gathering of news the preparation of current affairs or programme standards. 
I see that the Minister of Education is looking extremely worried over there. I point out to him that those provisions basically have been taken and modelled on the provisions in the Television New Zealand Bill. We have sought official assistance with our amendment so I think he should cease to be worried. It is simply an amendment to ensure that there is no potential political interference in the editorial content of Maori television. That is extremely important for all of us to ensure in this bill.