TVNZ chair Roseanne Meo has been forced to resign by an orchestrated programme of vilification and character assassination by Labour Ministers, says ACT Leader Richard Prebble

"While the Minister of Broadcasting told Parliament that Ms Meo had her support, a litany of defamations were thrown at the TVNZ Board," Mr Prebble said.

"When the Prime Minister accuses the Board of organising news readers Judy Bailey and Richard Long to support a PR campaign for their job, there's really no way that Roseanne Meo can respond to a personal attack of this sort.

"If Labour had no confidence in Roseanne Meo, the appropriate step for Helen Clark to take was to simply ask for her resignation. As a former Minister of State Owned Enterprises, this is an action that I have taken.

"What is not necessary is to tear apart the public reputation of people who are not in politics and whose only sin is to have been appointed by a previous government.

"We have not seen these sort of organised, personal, vicious attacks on people who are not professional politicians since the late Sir Robert Muldoon. It is going to be hard to find New Zealanders who have the necessary background and skill in business to take on positions such as member of an SOE Board if there is a risk that their business reputation will be shredded by a Prime Minister for party political reasons.

"No doubt the Labour party has hacks only too willing to be appointed to the Board.

"One also has the suspicion that the Government's actions are designed to intimidate the TVNZ news team," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media