6. Hon PETE HODGSON (Labour—Dunedin North) Link to this
to the Minister of Broadcasting
Is he satisfied with his management of his portfolio?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Broadcasting) Link to this
Although there is never any room for complacency in these matters, I am satisfied that a lot of hard work is going into meeting the challenges of the portfolio.
Brendon BurnsWhich Minister of Broadcasting should the House believe: the acting Minister, who stated yesterday that the Government had not determined to provide financial support to a Television New Zealand - led bid for Rugby World Cup rights, or today’s Minister of Broadcasting, who on Tuesday was widely reported and criticised for having said exactly the opposite, leading to a U-turn by the Prime Minister?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
If the member looks at those statements carefully and does not try to misrepresent them, he will find that they are totally consistent with each other.
Mr SPEAKERThe Hon Pete Hodgson will resume his seat immediately. I am on my feet; the House will be silent. I have had enough. The House started in good humour today, and it has deteriorated into totally unacceptable behaviour. When the member is called to ask a question, he will ask his question. He will not interject like that. Today I have had to put up with innuendo and interjection on my left, with accusations of bias by the Speaker. I have tolerated that, from the Hon Darren Hughes in particular. I will not tolerate that kind of nonsense any more. When the member is called to ask his supplementary question, he will do that without further interjection.
Does the Minister agree that the Prime Minister’s less than complimentary remarks about him this morning were a wee bit rough, given that the Prime Minister has known about the Māori Television Service’s bid for many, many weeks?
Does the Minister not feel just a little bit annoyed about being door stopped by Campbell Live at Wellington Airport yesterday afternoon, when Campbell Live knew that the Prime Minister had done a U-turn and so did almost everyone else, but no one had thought to tell the Minister of Broadcasting?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
To be honest, I found the whole interview experience quite surreal.
Does the Minister agree with the chief executive of the Māori Television Service, Jim Mather, who said he believed that the International Rugby Board, even given its vast global experience of broadcasting rights, had never encountered anything quite like the events of the past few days?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN Link to this
Mr Mather has expressed a range of beliefs, and that is just one of them.