Welcome back to Wellington and Parliament House.
If you're wondering what on earth is Te Karere doing in Wellington,
well I'll tell you.
Te Mangai Paho is celebrating their 25th anniversary
at Parliament House tonight.
We're very lucky to have Board Deputy Chair Brian Morris
come to talk to us.
Welcome to the programme, Brian.
Thank you, Scotty.
My condolences to you with your team the 'Canes
losing over the weekend on Saturday.
Yes, it's quite sad.
I'm beyond words.
However, just like how the Hurricanes have gone down,
you're also stepping off the board?
I heard yesterday that you'd stepped down.
So what are your memories about your three-year tenure
with the board?
All the work that the board of Te Mangai Paho
has done can be seen by all and sundry.
We've also been doing our bit to help promote the language
in sectors like broadcasting through Maori TV
and Maori radio stations which are owned by iwi.
The broadcasting of the language is still going
from strength to strength.
So I'm quite pleased about that.
So now that you're off the board does that mean you're now free
to disparage your colleagues or anyone you really dislike?
Just kidding! So, 25 years.
Over 25 years,
can you identify three major accomplishments
made by Te Mangai Paho?
We all know that Te Mangai Paho has done a lot of hard work
over the years.
But if you were to pick three major achievements by Te Mangai Paho,
what would those be?
Well, certainly one has to be broadcasting the language
over the radio airwaves.
There radio stations all over the country
and they are all channels for language delivery,
Maori TV being another channel.
So that's that.
Then there's the Anzac Day special such as the one broadcast in 2006.
The country was exposed to a new way of broadcasting
where those of our own who made the ultimate sacrifice
overseas can be commemorated.
So, those are probably three highlights
from our 25-year history.
Thank you, fantastic answer.
So, the Government's
Crown's Strategy for Maori Language Revitalisation (Te Maihi Karauna)
is out and the major aspiration
is for there to be 1 million Maori speakers by 2040.
What will Te Mangai Paho do to help assist the Government
in achieving that lofty goal?
Well, it's not just up to Te Mangai Paho
to deliver that, right?
We're working with Te Whare Reo Mauriora
to help carry out and achieve that goal.
And we know that everyone has a role to play.
So if the idea, Te Whare Reo Mauriora,
had been created by Te Mangai Paho,
then it wouldn't necessarily be clear who else would be involved.
But what makes it great is that it's a goal
that everyone can contribute to.
Some are still frustrated in the Maori broadcasting sector
because there are still claims that some Maori radio stations
are facing the chop,
news services are facing the chop
like will it be Te Karere or Te Ao Maori News that is chopped?
So now that you're off the board are you able to confirm the rumours
that are circulating around?
In my view, and what I know as well,
that's not how Te Mangai Paho sees this.
We'll need to wait for the current review
to be completed to find out what the needs are for Maori radio.
They have their news services.
So that's my view, some ideas have not been decided upon.
The review process needs to continue and go its course.
The results of the review will be released soon enough.
So is Te Mangai Paho still committed
to right-shifting language attitudes
and pursuing digital media as the future of Maori broadcasting?
Yes, we still are.
When it comes to right-shifting,
we're still very committed to that because you can see the people
move from zero language tolerance
to eventually becoming quite a proficient language speaker.
So that's that. So the desire is...
what was your second question again? - It was about digital.
It's here. -That's digital for you.
It's the future.
It's here in all of its glory.
We can't ignore it.
But we can see those groups that have produced digital media content
for their bread and butter.
You're quite a visionary man.
It's going to be the board's loss with your departure.
25 years have gone by,
and looking 25 years into the future,
what are your hopes and aspirations for Maori broadcasting?
Well, who can tell really?
Well tell us about one of your hopes?
For me, and this is a way to keep broadcasting our language,
and that's to ensure
it keeps being broadcast into our homes, everywhere.
That's to ensure constant exposure to it
both in terms of eyes and ears.
I can see the lens so I'm going to say this:
through one lens countless eyes can watch content.
By doing that people who are interested in our language
will become passionate about it.
It will enable our language to regain its full prestige.
So because you've uttered that proverbial phase
about the power of a single camera lens on Te Karere,
that's going to go viral everywhere
and your proverb is going to be repeated again and again
over the years.
Thank you, Brian,
for making yourself available and for your awesome answers.
Thank you.