August 24, 2018
Te Ūpoko heads off closure threat
One of the founders of Te Ūpoko o te Ika says the policy shift that almost closed the Wellington Māori radio station was deeply flawed.
In May the station’s licence to broadcast was assigned to just two tribes, Ngāti Toa and Te Atiawa, creating uncertainty and leading broadcast funding agency Te Māngai Pāho to withhold its operating grant.
A hui yesterday between all the region’s iwi and the Wellington Māori Language Board Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau i Te Reo Māori, which set up the station 31 years ago, agreed it could continue another year at least.
Piripi Walker says the crown has had to pull back on enforcing the new licence which would have allowed only tangata whenua iwi to broadcast.
"We’ve had this equal mix of tangata whenua and taura here on our board, four plus four, It's worked well. The idea of forcing it back to being a single iwi station was a terrible idea. It was never going to work and it hads't worked and here we are today with everyine back-pedalling from the idea of the funding withdrawal and the closure through that route," he says.
Mr Walker says relationships are important in tea o Māori, and he believed yesterday’s hui repaired a lot of the damage of recent months.
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com