February 19, 2014
Taurima exit loss to journalism
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Shane Taurima’s shock exit from Television New Zealand is a blow for Maori broadcasting.
Mr Taurima resigned as Maori and Pacific unit manager after it emerged he had used TVNZ premises for a Labour Party meeting.
TVNZ management said he broke an assurance made after unsuccessfully seeking Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti nomination that he would commit himself to journalism over politics.
Mr Peters says he can accept that Mr Taurima was doing his job in a politically neutral manner, but the meeting was not excusable.
'I’m seriously disappointed and saddened by this event because the number of professional top class Maori broadcasters or journalists is not great so if you see one fall, it makes it that much sadder," he says.
Mr Peters says Shane Taurima would make an ideal Labour candidate.
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