cross swords

Protest

Maori cross swords with

Tvnz

By Martin Tiffany

Maori activists are threatening further protests if their demands for more Maori programmes on television are

ignored.

On January 2, activists stormed TVNZ’s central Auckland studio forcing the 6pm news - the day’s main news to be delayed for 10 minutes. The dozen or so protesters, led by activist Ken Mair, tricked a security guard and entered the studio. They lined up behind the news readers as supporters in the street out side chanted and waved placards.

Mair said they took the action because the Maori were fed up with pro grammes in their language being side lined. The Maori news programme, Te Karere, was cut off completely over the Christmas holidays. It was expected to return to air in the first week of

February.

Mair said they wanted more air time for Te Karere and other Maori pro grammes and support from TVNZ was needed for a separate Maori broadcast ing station. He said under the Treaty of Waitangi TVNZ had an obligation to pro

vide quality Maori programmes.The pro testers also want more of these pro grammes to be shown during prime time.

TVNZ met the protesters the day after they infiltrated the studios. Mair said he had a promise at the meeting that further talks will be held with “deci sion makers”, including the Minister for Broadcasting.

A TVNZ director, Rod Cornelius, said they had listened to grievances during the three-hour meeting with the group.

He said he pointed out that Te Karere was funded by the Maori broadcasting agency, Te Mangai Paho, for a limited number of programmes a year.

Last year Te Mangai Paho gave TVNZ $5 million for all Maori programmes on the network. TVNZ says it asked for more funds to continue Te Karere over the Christmas period but were told funds were instead being used for an infotainment programme on cable tele vision network Sky.

According to TVNZ, Te Karere , with a regular audience of about 50,000, is not commercially viable during prime time.

However, they say they have six dramas by Maori writers with Maori themes

which could become regular features if they prove popular.

The protest has been successful in that the grievances have received national attention and TVNZ has given an undertaking to look into them.

Whether this will be enough remains to be seen.

Mair has threatened more of “these types of actions” if demands are not met.

The TVNZ protest is the third high profile act by Maori activists against the system in recent months. Last year an activist attacked an Auckland landmark - the pine tree on One Tree Hill - with a chainsaw. This was followed by the beheading of a statue in Wanganui. The statue was of one of the men responsi ble for land sales in the area.

Charges have been laid against those responsible for the attacks on the tree and the statue. But no charges have been laid against the protesters at

Tvnz.

A radical Maori group is behind the three attacks. Their action is causing splits in the Maori community.

Mair has publicly said he wants an end to white rule by the year 2000 and his meetings around the country will look at mechanisms and systems to enable such a move.

“By the year 2000 the liberation of the Maori people will occur in this country,” he says. They want to be able to make all immigration decisions. But not all Maori agree with Mair’s stand and many prominent Maori leaders are distancing themselves from Mair.

Northland Maori leader Dover Samuels warns against extremism and acts of aggression, saying they hurt Maori chances of winning equitable Treaty of Waitangi settlements. He said while he supported a call for a better coverage of Maori issues by television, the radical approach was not the way to go about things. He said following estab lished procedure would achieve more.

Other Maori leaders disagree, saying the radical approach is the only way.

Muriwhenua leader and Alliance Maori Affairs spokesman Matiu Rata says the Maori should maintain pressure even to the point of civil disobedience.

He said Maori had genuine grievances and valid complaints and had to get unruly to draw attention to them.

This year is the year of Maori lan guage. One thing is certain - more than their language will make news this year. ■