29 August 2024

Today’s Whakaata Māori announcement is yet another colossal failure from Minister Potaka, who has turned his back on te reo Māori, forcing a channel offline, putting whānau out of jobs, and cutting Māori content, says Te Pāti Māori.

“A Senior Māori Minister has turned his back on Te Reo Māori. Any move that reduces the prominence, visibility and auditability of Te Reo Māori is an attack on future generations. This is his failure, for our people and for our kids,” said Broadcast Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris.

“This restructure will have huge implications for whānau, Māori content, and the revitalisation of te reo Māori.

“For Potaka to sit by and allow a 25% reduction in operational budget is weak and gutless, and it has forced Whakaata Māori to its knees.

“Forcing the only channel fluent in Te Reo Māori off-air, is another breach of Article 2 of Te Tiriti, which protects our taonga, te reo Māori being one of them.

“The language of a people is the pupuri (the binding) of their being.

“This is the continuation of the insidious attack by the coalition government on all things Māori. It is the erasure of uniqueness of Māori identity, to assimilate, to conform to be another one of them.”

Despite a $10 million time-sensitive investment from the last Labour Government, which runs out next year, Whakaata Māori’s baseline operational funding has not increased since 2008.

"Past Governments are not off the hook either. Whakaata Māori has not had an increase in operational funding since 2008, during which costs have risen by 47% due to inflation.

“Despite that, their commitment to te ao Māori and te reo Māori has endured, and today’s announcement is a sad day,” said Ferris.

"Te Pāti Māori wants to acknowledge those at Whakaata Māori, past and present, who have contributed to our own storytelling, language revitalisation, and kōrero tuku iho,” said the MP for Te Tai Tonga.

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