Smith Murray: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
Smith Murray: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:5020] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 I heard the speech of Bill Gudgeon early tonight and I must say he is somewhat of an optimist in hoping that in fact the service will deliver. There are plenty of signs now for anybody who wants to look at it that this service cannot possibly deliver. In Part 1 we see another example of why the service will not deliver what it is intended to. I refer to clause 8 which talks about the functions of the service and states: “(1) The principal function of the Service is to promote te reo Maori me nga tikanga Maori through the provision of a high quality cost-effective Maori television service in both Maori and English that informs educates and entertains a broad viewing audience and in doing so enriches New Zealand’s society culture and heritage.” Subclause (2)(c) states that part of the functions of the service is to “ensure that in its programming the Service has regard to the needs and preferences of—(i) children participating in te reo Maori immersion education; and (ii) all persons learning te reo Maori”. 
This afternoon a member who was part of the select committee told us that they questioned Derek Fox the chief executive officer about what his intentions were in regard to television and whether it would educate. According to the select committee he said no definitely not it would not be an educational channel it would be there to entertain. Now we find that in terms of furthering te reo and despite what the Act says effectively what will happen to the money that is put into Maori television is that it will be for entertainment programmes. I wonder just how effective entertainment programmes will be in order to educate New Zealanders in te reo. 
The Act says that. The wording is there to say that it must educate but most of us know Derek Fox and most of us I think appreciate that Mr Derek Fox is not a person who listens particularly well. He is a person who has very firm ideas of what he is going to do and no amount of words in my view will change what he does. If he says to the select committee that this television channel will simply be to entertain not to educate then I would rather believe him than believe what the Act states. The Act is simply the principle. It is what happens on the road that is important. 
We will get a situation where we have a channel that is simply pouring all this money into an entertainment system that will not provide for te reo and te reo education in any meaningful sense. I go back to the point that firstly now we have a situation where funding is simply going to a marginal television station with a viewership that nobody can predict that nobody knows nobody has any idea how many there are. Certainly we know that the vast bulk of New Zealanders and I think even the vast bulk of Maori particularly given that a lot of Maori cannot even get the channel will not get the benefit of that. 
Coupled with that is an even more serious situation that the bulk of funding will go to Maori television and funding for the furtherance of te reo will not be available for any other television or radio station. I look at the press release put out by Te Mangai Paho on 21 February 2003 which said Te Mangai Paho had called for an urgent funding increase—note “an increase” and the channel is not even off the ground—to enable it to cope with the new demands created by the Maori Television Service. That was in February—now it is April and we still have not got one. But at that point in February it still had inadequate funding for the television service that at that point did not exist. The Maori language television and broadcasting funding provider made the plea when it appeared before the Maori Affairs Committee at Parliament yesterday. Te Mangai Paho board chairman Toby Curtis told the committee the level of television funding channelled through the agency had increased by more than 100 percent in the past 3 years. Te Mangai Paho was administering 29.4 million dollars’ worth of television contracts this year and that figure will rise to $40.3 million within 2 years. Almost all the funding—and that is $43.3 million—will go towards programmes to screen on the new Maori Television Service. If nobody is watching those programmes what will we do?