"Ministers Congratulate Maori Television Trustees"

The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon Tau Henare and the Minister of Communications, the Hon Maurice Williamson today congratulated the newly appointed trustees of the trust for Maori television.

The trustees tasked with establishing a nation-wide Maori television channel are Beverley Adlam, Selwyn Muru, Joe Williams, Robyn Bargh, Hemi Toia and Ian Taylor.

Ministers commended the trust's electoral college for managing the appointment process which attracted nearly seventy applications. The electoral college comprises representatives from key Maori organisations with an interest in Maori language promotion, education and broadcasting.

The first task for trustees is to develop a business case for the establishment of the Maori language channel. UHF frequencies and funds of up to $11.36 million to set up the channel, will then be transferred by the Government to the trust.

"There is no doubt that the task will be challenging, the newly appointed trustees have a great deal of experience and expertise that will be highly relevant to the success of the new channel and we wish them well for the future," the Ministers concluded.