August 21, 2018
Iwi radio rallies around Te Ūpoko
Māori radio broadcasters are demanding the funding for Wellington’s Radio Te Ūpoko o Te Ika be restored while a dispute over its frequency is resolved.
Māori broadcast funding agency Te Māngai Pāho froze the station's operating grant on July 1 because two of the region’s iwi want its AM frequency and won’t sign off on its licence.
Erana Keelan-Reedy from Radio Ngāti Porou in Ruatōria says that’s upset the radio umbrella group Te Whakaruruhau because Te Ūpoko has led the way since it was started 31 years ago by the Wellington Māori Language board.
"Nga Kaiwhakapūmau I Te Reo took the petition to government which saw Māori recognised as an offical language and then the proliferation of iwi radio stations followed. Iwi stations, iwi, as well as the crown owe it to Te Ūpoko to keep the doors open, to keep them on air, and to keep them funded," she says.
Te Whakaruruhau has asked Te Māngai Pāho to restore the station’s funding while it negotiates with Te Atiawa, Ngāti Toa and taura here, about ways it can keep going, and it also wants to engage with ministers Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson on the licence issue.
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