Screen producers call for Equity from TPK Māori Media Sector

March 28 from Ngā Aho Whakaari

Government need to equitably fund the Māori media sector says a hui held today at Tamatekapua meeting house in Rotorua.

The meeting called by Ngā Aho Whakaari, the Māori screen sector representatives, was attended by a cross section of Maori producers, online producers, film makers, actors, journalists, radio and gamers as part of the consultation on the Maori Media Sector Review, initiated by the Minister of Maori Development, the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.

The lower funding levels and lack of resources was institutional racism claim those at the hui and these issues need to be urgently addressed by the government.

Producer/actor Cliff Curtis says Māori in film and television punch well above their weight at a national and international level and should be funded to reflect the value of our identity and our culture to New Zealand.

At a higher level, participants who represent a wide cross-section of Māori media leaders wanted to remind the government that Māori are Treaty Partners and as partners were entitled to equity.

There was a strong call for the tino rangatira of the sector to be handed back to Māori control. A similar Māori media hui was held in Auckland yesterday as Te Puni Kōkiri gather opinion from the Māori Media sector throughout the country.

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