Flavell Te Ururoa: Urgent Debates — Rugby World Cup—Broadcasting 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Urgent Debates — Rugby World Cup—Broadcasting 
[Volume:658;Page:7189] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. As one would expect the Maori Party is proud to stand in the House to promote the incredible success and unique status of our indigenous broadcaster Maori Television. This urgent debate today gives us the opportunity one would have thought to sing the praises of a world-class indigenous broadcaster—Whakaata Maori hei pourewa papaho taketake kei nga taumata o te ao. It is right at the very top end of broadcasting in this nation and indeed in front of the world and I will come back to that shortly. 
For the last 6 years the Maori Television Service as a statutory corporation has earned a place at the very heart of every New Zealander for the way in which it presents a unique New Zealand identity within a global society. Although many people of Aotearoa thought that Maori Television would limit its service and be applicable only to Maori people in fact research tells us that large numbers of New Zealanders latch on to Maori Television for the way in which it presents New Zealand society. 
It is in that context that we enter another space—a sacred space within our nation—the special respect accorded to the national sport of rugby. I stand here to celebrate and to salute the brilliant initiative pioneered by the Maori Television Service Te Puni Kokiri and of course the Minister of Maori Affairs focusing on the free-to-air broadcast of the Rugby World Cup. This is an idea that is transformational in essence and I encourage the House to pause a few seconds and use that time to be proud of the showcase broadcaster. 
Just over a month ago Maori Television won a gold award at a ceremony in Sydney for creative endeavours by promotion and marketing professionals who work in the electronic media. The Promax/BDA ANZ 2009 international award honoured Maori Television for the way in which its reporters are out there amongst the people getting the stories on the ground and on the issues that matter right across every rohe of the country. In fact the phrase that encapsulates Maori Television Service “Ko Ngai Matou Ko Ngai Tatou” is what gives Maori Television the edge over international competitors with far greater budgets and staffing levels. 
Maori Television is the television of the people. This is the station of Aotearoa and we should be proud of it. In that regard what better vehicle than this one to ensure that every All Black game every element of the Rugby World Cup tournament is also broadcast on Maori Television because it is a unique opportunity to showcase Aotearoa in our most positive light including our culture our society and our economy. The Rugby World Cup is the most exciting opportunity that this country will have for a long period to present the face of the nation to the world. 
Let us for a second consider what it means to Maori Television to be the lead broadcaster because that is the term it has managed to secure with the help of course of the lead team working on this bid recently. I listened earlier to Mr Goff saying that here was an event that was a wonderful opportunity to present New Zealand to the world and I absolutely agree. There is such a strong field of opportunities outside and beyond the goalposts and this is the sort of thing that Minister Sharples Te Puni Kokiri and the Maori Television Service were thinking about several months ago when they were pulling together the bid to submit to broadcast the occasion for the satellite that we are looking at will now enable a huge amount of returns on the investment. 
This is a Government that is prepared to promote Maori language and culture by supporting Maori Television a broadcaster that by its very definition promotes Maori language as the cornerstone of Maori culture. This is a Government that is prepared to invest in Maori Television as a platform for Maori cultural development to be proud of our national identity and to show that to the world. But of course there are many other outcomes and benefits that have been associated with the Maori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Maori) Act which basically set up Maori Television as a statutory corporation. High in our priorities have been the significant opportunities for job creation in the Maori broadcasting sector and well beyond as a part of the Rugby World Cup. Minister Sharples was very much instrumental in trying to promote that cause to the nation. I am delighted that Dr Sharples has the vision and the insight to endorse the proposal to support training for young Maori in broadcasting and information and communications technology industries. That is an important drop-down from this bid. 
As a natural consequence surely the Maori broadcasting sector will grow and that also provides huge benefits into the future. At its very minimum of course the success of the Rugby World Cup bid will enable Maori Television to increase its viewer base and to substantially increase its current advertising revenue of approximately $1 million per annum. We have to be behind that sort of discussion. The Maori Party supported the joint announcement by the Prime Minister Mr Key and Dr Sharples in supporting the joint bid as the best way to ensure free-to-air access to all matches and at the same time showcase Maori culture. 
There are of course many many other outcomes that come from this broadcast—in fact too many to limit to the 10 minutes I have today. We know that the Maori Television proposal has excited Maori people up and down the country. The Maori Party has been inundated with messages of support and congratulations on promoting acknowledging and supporting this bid by Maori Television because of the energy and passion it will bring to this particular broadcast—an ability to strut its stuff on the national and international stage. 
In the past Maori Television has been well known for its high-calibre broadcasts: the broadcast of Sir Howard Morrison’s tangi; its broadcasts on Waitangi Day and Anzac Day; and the tangi for Kuini Te Atairangikaahu. In fact Maori Television has taken Maori culture into our living rooms and kitchens so that all Aotearoa can celebrate our unique identity as Aotearoa. A part of that is of course that we need the Maori element that Maori Television brings to this discussion. It promotes “Brand Maori”; it celebrates Maori success; it promotes Maori tourism; but also it is a wonderful opportunity to include Maori language and culture as a way of celebrating our unique iconic heritage. It reflects our national identity to an international audience and we hope this will create lasting benefits for all New Zealanders. 
There are some who have been pretty negative about the bid. We want to think that we can move forward positively with this bid as a unique opportunity that this country will be able to use to present itself not only to New Zealanders but also to address some of the issues raised about the possibility of every broadcast being in the Maori language. But that has not happened on Maori Television thus far for any event so we do not have to worry about that. Also the mere fact that Maori Television has engaged the other broadcasters allows us to address the issue of coverage to ensure that all New Zealanders can watch the World Cup in their home without worrying about missing out. In that regard we absolutely support the proposals that allow for all broadcasters to work together to produce a product that will be in the best interests of Aotearoa New Zealand.