Katherine Rich MP National Party Broadcasting Spokeswoman

16 September 2003

Dr Brian Edwards must go

The National Party is lending its support to ACT MP Rodney Hide who's wrapped up in a very public spat with veteran broadcaster and Labour Party spin-Doctor Brian Edwards.

"If Dr Edwards was anyone else he would have been sacked from the state television network already," says National Party Broadcasting spokeswoman Katherine Rich.

She's commenting after Dr Edwards publicly thumbed his nose at Mr Hide following TVNZ's decision to uphold a complaint about the way Mr Hide was treated during an interview on Edwards at Large.

"It will be interesting to see what decisions are made by TVNZ management about how Dr Edwards is treated," Mrs Rich says.

"Will we see equal treatment, or once again different treatment for pro-Labour people?

"If anyone else at TVNZ had publicly undermined the formal apology of the Complaints Committee and TVNZ's Chief Executive they would face the consequences," Mrs Rich says.

"The former CEO of state-owned Timberlands, Kit Richards lost his job for speaking out of turn and at the time Jenny Shipley made a comparison with Dr Edwards' role as a Labour Party spin doctor and his employment at RNZ," Mrs Rich says.

"If he stays, having publicly undermined Ian Fraser's comments and the decision of the Complaints Committee, is it because management is worried about Dr Edwards' political connections?

"TVNZ has just made the decision to cancel former Alliance MP Pam Corkery's show, it should now be seriously considering the fate of Edwards at Large, which has also failed to pull in an audience," says Mrs Rich.

Ends

© Scoop Media