19 September 2001

The appointment of Mr Derek Fox to chair the board of the Maori television service is a cynical manoeuvre designed to remove the prospective founder of a new Maori political party from the scene, National's Murray McCully said today.

The fact that the Minister of Maori Affairs has participated in the appointment process is highly questionable given that Mr Fox almost defeated him in the Ikaroa Rawhiti seat last election, and would very likely have defeated him in next year's election if, as was widely expected, Mr Fox had run again.

Confirmation that the Prime Minister met Mr Fox on August 7 to discuss Maori broadcasting matters will leave New Zealanders drawing their own conclusions about her and her Government's actions.

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