February 19, 2014
Taurima slip relatively minor
Labour MP Shane Jones hopes the circumstances of Shane Taurima’s departure from TVNZ don’t affect his political ambitions.
Mr Taurima has been identified as a contender for selection as Labour’s Tamaki Makaurau candidate.
He resigned on Monday as manager of the state broadcaster’s Maori and Pacific Islands unit after it emerged a Labour branch meeting was held on TVNZ premises.
TVNZ management said when Mr Taurima was given his job back after an unsuccessful bid to become Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate, he promised to put journalism over politics.
Mr Jones says the hui was a lapse in judgment but Mr Taurima accepted the consequences.
"I sort of feel when someone does get in the 'roke' and it is a relatively minor infringement in my view, you shouldn’t completely hang them out to dry or turn your back on them, especially if they are going to stand up and say ‘Look, I have to wear this, I am responsible for it and I apologise,’" he says.
Shane Jones says the question of whether Shane Taurima stands for Labour candidate in Tamaki Makaurau, if he puts his name forward, is one for the party’s internal processes to decide.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH SHANE JONES CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MTU1NTE=
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