TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki) : Tēnā koe, Mr Deputy Speaker, kia ora anō tātau katoa. I te tuatahi me pēnei rawa te kōrero, kei te tautoko ake te Pāti Māori i ētahi o ngā kōrero o tērā mema o te Rōpū Kākāriki i a ia e kōrero ana, he aha kei te pūtake o tēnei pire? Ko tā mātau he tautoko ake i te kī mai, ko te pūtea te mea nui, kaua ko ngā hua o te mahi. Ko tā te Pāti Māori ko te kī ake, e hia kē nei ngā painga o tētahi pepa pēnei i te whāinga matua, arā, te tūtohinga pāpāho. E hia kē nei ngā painga o tērā momo pepa. I ngā tau kua hipa, arā noa atu te taumata kōrero hei whāinga mā Te Reo Tātaki. I kī mai te tūtohinga i ngā tau kua hipa, “TVNZ shall: … ensure in its programmes and programme planning the participation of Maori and the presence of a significant Māori voice;”.

Kei reira tonu te kōrero. Ko te pai o tērā kōrero, ko tāna whakarite i ngā taumata pāoho, ā, ko te kite anō hoki mēnā i ekengia e Te Reo Tātaki ōna ake taumata. I kī mai tētahi pōrangi, ko Police Ten 7 me te Game of Two Halves ētahi hōtaka hei whakatinana i te kōrero i roto i tērā tūtohinga. Kātahi te kōrero rorirori ko tērā. Ko tā Te Reo Tātaki he hūnuku i a Waka Huia ki ngā hāora o te ruru, he whakaiti rānei i ngā hāora o ngā mea pēnei i a Marae. Ahakoa pēhea, ko te mea pai o te tūtohinga, he taumata kei reira, he whakarite i ērā momo taumata kia āhei ai tētahi ki te whakamātautau i a Te Reo Tātaki kia kitea mai ai mēnā i eke a ia ki ōna ake kōrero, ki ōna ake taumata. Ki a mātau, koinei te pai o te tūtohinga.

Me pēhea hoki ināianei mēnā ka whakakorengia tēnei āhuatanga. Me pēhea hoki mēnā kāore a Te Reo Tātaki e hiahia pāoho paku āhuatanga o te ao Māori, te reo Māori, te whakanui rānei i ngā mahi e mahia nei e rātau ināia tonu nei. Me kī, ko wai te pirihimana? Ko au, ko Parekura Horomia, ko te Whare Pāremata? Ko wai hoki? Ko wai te pirihimana hei whakamātautau, hei tohutohu rānei i Te Reo Tātaki?

Kei te pātai au i tēnei i te mea ki tā Peter Thompson o te Whare Takiura o Unitec, nui ake ngā hōtaka taketake nei o Aotearoa muri mai i te whakatinanatanga o tēnei mea te tūtohinga. I kī mai ia, nā te tūtohinga ka kite tātau i tā Willie Jackson Eye to Eye with Willie Jackson, te tangihanga o Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, te tikanga whakamaumaharatanga i te Unknown Soldier, tae atu ki te tangihanga mō Tā Edmund Hillary. Nā te aha i pērā ai? Nā te tautohe. Mēnā ka noho kore tūtohinga, ko tā mātau e kī nei, he moni te take nui.

Ko tētahi mea ohorere ki a au, ko te whakaaetanga kia tukurua, kia tukutoru rānei ngā hōtaka tawhito. Kia mōhio mai e te Whare, i te Rātapu kua hipa, e hia kē nei ngā mea i waea atu ki tētahi o tō mātau rōpū o te Pāti Māori, ki te pātai mēnā kua taka anō ia ki te raruraru. Nā te aha i pērā ai? Nā te mea i pāoho a Marae i tētahi uiui, tētahi hōtaka, nō te tau kua hipa. Ka kite mai ngā tāngata i runga i te pouaka whakaata ka pōhēhē, ē, kua raruraru anō tērā Māori i roto i te Pāti Māori. Engari, ehara.

Nō reira ko te āhua nei, ka taea e Te Reo Tātaki te pāoho ngā hōtaka tawhito i tēnei wā tonu nei. Nō reira, he aha te take nui o tērā? Kei a mātau ētahi āwangawanga mō te pire nei me te mau tonu ki te whakaaro, kia noho a Te Reo Tātaki me te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa ki roto i ngā ringaringa o te motu, pēnei i tā Sue Kedgley i kōrero nei me noho ki roto i ngā ringaringa o Aotearoa whānui tonu. Engari, ko te mea nui ki a mātau ko tēnei, me pēhea e taea ai te tiaki tētahi wāhanga Māori, ko ngā tūmanako Māori, ko ngā mea e whakanui nei i tō tātau noho ā-Aotearoa nei, ki te kore e whakairi i tētahi tūtohinga, hei kupu ārahi, hei kupu tohutohu, hei kupu arataki, i te āhuatanga o Te Reo Tātaki.

Heoi anō, ahakoa ēnei āwangawanga, ēnei mānukanuka, ka tukuna tēnei pire ki te komiti whāiti kia taea ai te wānanga i te pire nei, kia taea ai e te hāpori, e te motu pea te wānanga i tēnei o ngā kaupapa, ā, ka mutu, mā rātau anō mātau e ārahi hei muri ake nei. Āe, he huarahi kua whakatakotohia, ko tā mātau ko te kī atu, kei reira tonu ētahi paku āwangawanga. Heoi anō i tōna mutunga mai, tāria te wā kia rongo i ngā kōrero o te motu. Kia ora tātau.

[Greetings to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and to us all again. Firstly, let me say that the Māori Party endorses some of the comments made by that member for the Green Party during her address, when she asked what was this bill’s rationale. We support the response that the main focus is on money and not the benefits from programming. We, the Māori Party, say that there are many advantages in having a primary aims - type document like a broadcasting charter—yes, very many advantages. Television New Zealand in past years was set many standards to meet. The original charter set the benchmark high. It stated that “TVNZ shall:… ensure in its programmes and programme planning the participation of Maori and the presence of a significant Maori voice;”.

The statement is still there. The good thing about it is that it sets broadcasting standards and enables us to assess whether Television New Zealand is meeting its own standards. Some mindless person suggested that Police Ten 7 and Game of Two Halves were akin to the presence of a significant Māori voice, but the nation thought otherwise. That was sheer nonsense. What a load of rubbish! Television New Zealand then shifted Waka Huia into the depth of night, to the hour of the morepork, or reduced the hours of a programme like Marae. Nevertheless, the good thing about a charter is that it sets a standard; it determines the types of standards so one can assess whether Television New Zealand is achieving its standards and how it said it would do it. That is what we like about having a charter.

What would happen now, should a charter be abolished? What will happen should Television New Zealand decide that it no longer wants to broadcast programmes that reflect anything to do with Māoridom and the language, or increase the content of what it is doing right now? Who will oversee all that? Will I do that? Will the Hon Parekura Horomia do it? Will it be Parliament? Who will, indeed? Who will oversee, assess, or advise Television New Zealand?

I am asking this because Peter Thompson from Unitec Institute of Technology has said that the level of local content increased after the introduction of the charter, to the extent that there is more local content screened on Television New Zealand channels. He said that because of the charter we began to see programmes like Willie Jackson’s Eye to Eye with Willie Jackson, the funeral of Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, the memorial ceremony for the Unknown Soldier, and Sir Edmund Hillary’s funeral. What brought that about? Debate did it. Should there not be a charter, it will mean to us that money has become the primary consideration.

The thing that startles me is the provision to screen archived programmes, and allowing them to be repeated two or three times. I want the House to know that last Sunday many people rang a member of our Māori Party to ask whether he was about to get into trouble again. What caused that? A repeat programme, an inquiry from last year, was screened on Marae. People saw it on television and mistakenly assumed that the member of the Māori Party was in trouble again. But he was not at all.

So it seems that Television New Zealand will be able to continue what it is doing right now. What is the big thing about that? We have some fairly strong misgivings about this bill. We strongly believe that Television New Zealand and Radio New Zealand should remain in public ownership. Sue Kedgley advocates a similar view. But the greatest thing for us is to ensure that Māori perspectives and aspirations, as well as those of all the people of New Zealand, are not enshrined in a programming strategy to lead, direct, and guide Television New Zealand.

However, despite these misgivings and concerns we support this bill going to the select committee so that we can hear the views of the people. We will be guided by them afterwards. Yes, there is a process in place, and we say to them that while some minor areas remain a concern, we look forward to the time when we can hear their thoughts. Thank you all .]