Brownlee wishes MTS all the best

The National Party wishes those running the Maori Television Service (MTS) every success, yet we make no commitment to continued funding, says Gerry Brownlee, National's Maori Affairs Spokesman.

"The preservation of Te Reo Maori is highly important, but I am not convinced that a $45 million television station is the answer.

"Why is this Government happy for kids to sit at home watching Maori cartoons, funded out of the public purse, when we have a serious shortage of Maori language teachers in our schools and when Maori children's literature is virtually non-existent?

"Surely classroom based learning, backed up with reading, is a better and more-cost effective way to go.

Of the 92,000 children's books in the National Children's collection, just over 1,100 contain Maori text. And that doesn't necessarily mean that they are written in Maori, just that they contain the odd Maori word.

"A National Government will review all broadcasting, including MTS and TVNZ. We will not waste taxpayers money on something that proves to be ineffective," says Mr Brownlee.

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