Harawira Hone: Broadcasting Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Harawira Hone: Broadcasting Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:645;Page:14786] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. The fact that we are considering this Broadcasting Amendment Bill at this time is very very auspicious for a number of reasons. On this day 21 years ago on 11 March 1987 the Maori Language Act was passed declaring Maori to be an official language of New Zealand. The Maori Language Commission was also established and given a specific responsibility to promote te reo Maori as a living language. 
The importance of the Maori language to Maori broadcasting of course is that it was the Court of Appeal decision obligating the Crown to protect and promote the Maori language that led to the funding and the growth in Maori radio and the eventual creation of Maori Television. It is also worth noting that policy and funding for Maori broadcasting was seen by the Waitangi Tribunal and accepted by the Crown as a way for the Crown to honour its Treaty obligations to protect and promote te tino rangatiratanga o te reo Maori—not just Maori language but “an authentic and independent Maori voice”. It is the very same authentic and independent Maori voice that the Maori Party has so very clearly become in this very Parliament. 
The fact that the Broadcasting Amendment Bill is being read for a final time this week is also worth noting because for many Maori this week will also be notable for another ending. This week we had the announcement of Whai Ngata’s retirement as general manager of Maori programming at Television New Zealand. As we move to digital transmission and aim to strengthen the archiving of Maori programming we are also farewelling one of Maori broadcasting’s true veterans. He is a man who has helped steer Maori broadcasting for more than 30 years who won the 1980 Mobil radio award for his documentary on the 28th Maori Battalion and who 20 years ago was made deputy head of the brand new Maori programmes department of Television New Zealand which was responsible in its first years for three new programmes:  
Kohanga Reo 
  
Tagata Pasifika 
 and  
Waka Huia 
. Just a year ago he was awarded the title of Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori broadcasting and television. 
As we celebrate Whai’s commitment to advancing Maori broadcasting in Aotearoa we think too of those others who have been at the vanguard of Maori broadcasting—legends like Ernie Leonard Wiremu Kerekere Wiremu Parker Henare Te Ua Haare Williams Selwyn Muru Henare Kingi Huirangi Waikerepuru and many many others who have made a significant contribution to the industry including the Maori Party’s candidate for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat Mr Derek Tini Fox. 
In amending the Act to allow Te Mangai Paho to fund the archiving of Maori programmes this bill will allow us to honour many of those people I have mentioned and a veritable host of others whose stories have been passed down through waiata karakia haka whaikorero and interviews many of which were recorded through programmes like  
Te Puna Wai Korero 
  
Koha 
  
Nga Take Maori Te Mana Maori He Rerenga Korero 
 and other Maori programmes that are a vital part of our sound and visual archives. 
This week is also auspicious for another reason. Come this weekend all eyes will be on Rotorua for the hosting of the annual Maori Media Awards a ceremony initiated by Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Maori under my chairmanship. The awards are an opportunity to celebrate Maori excellence in the field of Maori broadcasting. As we recognise many of the talents within the burgeoning Maori broadcasting sector it is timely that we recognise the importance of the digital world and embrace the latest in broadcasting and communications technology along with the people who have the skills to maximise our opportunities from that technology. 
Mind you for all of that celebration there is still much to be done including addressing the age-old problem of Maori programmes being shunted around to suit the commercial ratings of Television New Zealand. Twenty-one years ago Hone Kaa said that Television New Zealand’s decision to screen the current affairs programme  
Nga Take Maori 
 at 10 p.m. on Sundays “shows a lack of commitment to Maori programmes”. Well as we all know now those were actually the good old days when 10 p.m. was almost prime-time viewing compared with the midnight slot that  
Te Karere 
 has been ghettoised into. Yet there is nothing in this Broadcasting Amendment Bill that addresses this marginalisation and denigration of Maori programming. There is a big hole in this bill in that it can talk so easily about valuing the past through the archiving of Maori programming and about preparing us for the future by funding things like video on demand and managing content on other platforms but completely ignore the present demand for prime-time viewing of Maori programmes on mainstream television. 
The Maori Party will support this bill because it has a positive focus on archiving and on digital development but we remain critical of the fact that Labour’s Maori MPs have remained silent during the three readings of this bill on the issues that matter most to Maori: one why there is no commitment to the ongoing funding of Maori broadcasting; two why Maori programming on Television New Zealand gets shunted to midnight to suit commercial ratings when Maori is an official language in this country and when Television New Zealand has a charter obligation to promote the Maori language; and three why the Crown will not allow Te Mangai Paho to be appointed by the Crown and Maori in the same way that the Maori Television board is appointed. This last issue raises of course a fourth issue: why will the Crown not allow the Television New Zealand board to be appointed by the Crown and Maori in the same way that the Maori Television board is appointed? 
We take this opportunity to again challenge Television New Zealand to lift its game by accepting its obligations to honour the significance of the Maori voice by giving the Maori voice the recognition that comes with prime-time viewing by enabling Maori to be full players in the growth of new technology and by recognising the increasingly more important role that Maori are playing in the future of our society. 
Finally we wish Television New Zealand’s new Maori programme commissioner Kath Graham of Ngati Koroki Kahukura all the best in her challenge to increase the number the quality and the placement of Maori programmes on Television New Zealand’s channels. The Maori Party is committed to a future that includes a continued growth in Maori broadcasting Maori programming and Maori people who themselves are focused on increasing Maori programming in all broadcast media. We will be supporting this bill on that basis. Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa.