Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7990] 
10.  
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
 to the  
Minister of Broadcasting 
: What is the salary band of Television New Zealand’s new position of kaihautu and have there been any employment grievances from other persons who believed that they had been offered the position of kaihautu? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 These are operational matters for which I have no legal responsibility. However in accordance with section 211 of the Companies Act each annual report of Television New Zealand Ltdwill state such information if it is relevant. 
Deborah Coddington 
: Can the Minister deny media rumours that the new kaihautu Hone Edwards is paid more than $180000 per year and is he concerned that under the charter the kaihautu—already dubbed cultural safety officer—is paid more than investigative journalists whose job it is to report the facts; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No I cannot confirm those media rumours as the member puts it and I remind her that they are operational matters for which I have no legal responsibility. However the information of course is made publicly available by Television New Zealand at the appropriate time. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Does the Minister have any responsibility at all for the recruitment of staff at Television New Zealand? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No. Such personnel matters are the responsibility of the management of the company. Section 128 of the Companies Act provides that the business and affairs of a company must be managed by or under the direction or supervision of the board of the company and not by its shareholders—something I imagine everybody in the House already knows. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister see the contradiction in appointing a kaihautu at a rumoured remuneration of more than $180000 when at the same time Television New Zealand is cutting costs reducing the news budget by 10 percent making staff redundant and cancelling high-quality current affairs and drama programmes? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I try to avoid listening to unfounded rumours and no. 
Heather Roy 
: Can the Minister deny that two tangata whenua have been paid out by Television New Zealand because of a cultural misunderstanding by which they believed that Ian Fraser had offered them the job of kaihautu; if not does he as Minister have any concerns about just how Television New Zealand is spending taxpayers’ dollars? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have no knowledge of those unfounded rumours. 
Marc Alexander 
: Can the Minister say whether any of the $12 million allocated by the Government for the fulfilment of chartered programming was used to pay for the appointment of the kaihautu; if so what programmes were cut in order to make such a politically correct appointment? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No that money was not used to hire this new member of staff. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister assure the House that the agreement worked out between Television New Zealand and any of the unsuccessful applicants did not involve any payment financial settlement commitment undertaking or promise from Television New Zealand to engage or commission them to undertake any forms of consultancy or the Brian Edwards - option of producing their own programme; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I am aware through media reports of only one person who has complained about the process—and that person is not a Television New Zealand staff member. That is the only complaint I am aware of. 
Rodney Hide 
: Does the Minister believe that the appointment of a cultural safety officer at Television New Zealand is going a bit far if it is simply to protect the Minister of Maori Affairs and is that not just another reason for New Zealanders to switch to TV3 where the staff are all paid to get and to report the news rather than to censor it? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I know of no cultural safety officer employed by Television New Zealand. 
Stephen Franks 
: In the light of the Minister’s apparent lack of interest in the kaihautu appointment if people flock to private broadcasters for news they feel is uncensored by any cultural safety officer will he promise that the Government will not force private broadcasters to appoint their own such officers; if not how else will he ensure that people stay watching State broadcasting’s PC news? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I hope they watch Television New Zealand because it is interesting. That is why I hope they will go and do that. No one has forced anybody to do anything; this was a choice made by Television New Zealand itself. Of course I am interested in those kinds of appointments and consistent with that I point out that no one is going to force TV3 to do anything either. 
Deborah Coddington 
: What obligations does Television New Zealand have under the Treaty of Waitangi? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As an organisation that is relatively autonomous under its own legislation Television New Zealand has to make choices about how it will deal with the Treaty of Waitangi just as all other organisations of that kind do.