Rich Katherine: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
Rich Katherine: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:5016] 
KATHERINE RICH (NZ National) 
: 
 It is very interesting to see the reference to the year 2001. Quite simply it is a case of wishful thinking on the part of the Government to have ever thought that this bill would be passed during 2001. I do remember standing here and asking the Minister when he thought the Maori Television Service was going to be on air and he told the House that he hoped it would be by the middle of 2001. Well here we are a couple of years later and we do not even have a start date for this television station. What project would we ever find in the private sector that would invest millions of dollars per annum without a project start date in mind? It would not happen in the private sector. This project is the flagship project of the Government and it has just been an absolute disaster from start to finish. 
This part deals with the establishment of the service. Let us just remember a few facts about the establishment of the service. It is a little known fact that the Maori Television Service has been acting without any official status whatsoever and that is why Te Puni Kokiri has been largely responsible for every decision or lack of decision that has been made by the Maori Television Service over the last 3 years. Let us just remember the appointment of Mr John Davy. When it transpired in the  
New Zealand Herald  
that there were some concerns about Mr Davy’s qualifications what did we hear from Derek Fox? He said that the appointment process was “robust and correct.” [ 
Interruption 
] 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Running commentaries are out of order. The member might like to have a look at Speaker’s ruling 51/5. 
KATHERINE RICH 
: He said that Mr Davy was doing “a great job” and that there was no reason to question his qualifications or to look behind his degree which if I remember rightly was from the Ashland School of Business a university that exists only on the Internet. So what did the Government do next? It bagged Millennium People and its management of the appointment process. Michael Cullen stood up in the House and said that Millennium People was a “bunch of amateurs” and that the whole process was an absolute shambles. That poor company is no longer as a result of the negative comments of the Government. 
This part sets up the accountability framework of the Maori Television Service and that I think is something that all members of the Committee are very interested in. We have been wanting to know for a long time how accountable the Maori Television Service is in terms of its expenditure. One of the key things that the directors seemed to make up their minds about was the level of their fees and an increase in their fees. In terms of accountability because they have no legal status some of the decisions that have been made quite clearly would not stack up in other circumstances. I refer to things like questionable tendering processes—the idea that one can have a closed tender and invite only a few friends to put in a tender for certain equipment and buildings—and looking at swanky premises down at the Viaduct with views of the America’s Cup. No television business in its right mind would set up in the most expensive real estate in Auckland overlooking I might add premises in other areas of Auckland city that are less expensive. 
I am glad this part deals with the whole issue of conflict of interest because some really quite unusual decisions were made by some board members such as the whole idea that a tender could be let to Sony—and miraculously one of the directors on the board just happened to be an employee of Sony. The whole project from start to finish has been mishandled and I think the Minister knows that. Things have happened within the Maori Television Service that quite frankly would not be acceptable in any other Government department. But things have been allowed to muddle on. We do not have a start date. That is an absolute shambles.