Carter John: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
Carter John: Maori Television Service Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:5008] 
JOHN CARTER (NZ National—Northland) 
: 
 I am pleased to see that my colleague Georgina te Heuheu has handed in an amendment on the basis of a suggestion that I made. I now understand that Bill Gudgeon of New Zealand First has made a further amendment and also that there is a further amendment from the Government. If that is correct could the Minister nod? I understand the Government will move an amendment also. 
The ironic thing about this situation is that those amendments have come about as a suggestion from a non-Maori of this Committee 
Hon Member 
: Does the member mean a New Zealander? 
JOHN CARTER 
: A New Zealander who is not of Maori descent. 
Hon Member 
: The member has a Maori name. 
JOHN CARTER 
: I have a Maori name only by adoption. It seems strange to me that suddenly we now have three amendments: one from the Government one from New Zealand First and the best one naturally from Georgina te Heuheu. That had to come about as the result of a suggestion from someone who was not involved in the Maori Affairs Committee but who sat here tonight and thought it was very odd not to have a Maori title for a bill that is all about issues that relate to Maori. Other bills pass before this Committee that are not directly related to Maori issues such as the National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa) Bill. That bill had some additional Maori wording that I cannot pronounce properly so I will not try to do so. It has become a habit to have an English and a Maori part of a title. 
I am absolutely amazed that this bill was just named in English the “Maori Television Service Bill.” I am staggered that the Minister for example who said that this bill is intended to teach people about the Maori language has used English to describe it. That is quite extraordinary. I would have thought that the Minister in the chair the Hon Parekura Horomia would at the very least have wanted to say that this bill is all about teaching people the Maori language so therefore surely the first thing that people should see when they pick up the bill is some Maori wording. They should also hear it when they turn the television on—which of course is something that the Minister will have to learn. However we will teach him that on the way through as well—it is the “on” button. 
But I would have thought that the Minister would have wanted to present this as the Maori Television Service Bill with that title then followed by—or even preceded by—the very good wording put in by my colleague Georgina te Heuheu. It surprises me that this bill was sent from the Minister to the select committee. I find it very strange to think that other members of the select committee did not even click on to the fact that there should have been some Maori wording in the title. 
It is interesting that that has now suddenly become a fad. In fact three or four of us might end up putting in amendments to the title to make sure that the Maori language is properly recognised. That is important. If the purpose of this bill is as the Government says it is—to allow New Zealanders to learn the Maori language—then surely to goodness that should be reflected in the title. I say to the Minister as I have said before that I am not certain whether we will achieve that. We will have further debate on that when we get into the parts of the bill with amazing deficiencies and debate the lack of accountability there will be as a consequence of that. The $55 million of taxpayers’ money that will be spent on not achieving anything is an issue that we will be debating. 
But right now we are in the narrow debate on the title and I know that the Chairperson will be calling me back shortly to talk about it. So I thank him; it is good to see that he responds to prompts like that. I say to the Committee that when we are debating the title of a bill it is important that the title reflects the intent of the bill. I believe that when somebody picks this bill up that person will not see this title do that. It states “television” but not “learning”.