Maori funding agency struggling to support 21 radio stations

The Chairman of Te Mangai Paho (TMP), the New Zealand government agency that funds broadcasts in Maori, has suggested that the country’s 21 Maori language radio stations might be more effectively replaced with a single national station. Wira Gardiner says the current stations are poorly funded and equipped, and funding a single national station to promote the Maori language might be more effective. Mr Gardiner, appearing before the Maori affairs select committee, told MP’s that “It might be better to have a national station, you may cut down to seven. You either fund them properly or look at how you do it properly.” But he added that TMP was happy with the quality of Maori being spoken on the stations.