Royal Commission on Broadcasting comes to Te Aute College

Tu Tangata, Issue 27, 1 December 1985, Page 20

Royal Commission on Broadcasting comes to Te Aute College

Nervous shuffling of feet. Echoes of pukana resounding through the brisk morning. Expectant faces amongst modern new buildings, within a backdrop of much-developed landscaping.

And they arrived. Several speeches and flawless songs of welcome later, the Commission were walking sideways, quite a natural occurrence in the hongi.

Among the other noses being respectfully flattened were lawyers from the BCNZ, the counsel assistant and the secretary for the commission, plus representatives from Kiwi Radio and the Good News Trust both based in Hawke's Bay.

The Commission, in due course, proceeded inside the hall/gymnasium complex, where they were met by an entire gallery of Maori art. The art was produced locally by the boys, and was in a sense greater than even the fabulous Te Maori exhibition a compliment paid to us by a visitor to that very exhibit. As the four commissioners took root behind tables and sound equipment, they were also obviously taken in by the surroundings.

An event as unusual as this couldn't escape the notice of Eye Witness News, nor could Te Karere news team spurn the interest this would generate.

So atop the Chapel's plateau poised four rather reluctant interviewees, contemplating their profiles in the camera's viewer. Speak English? Korero Maori? Sure you want it in Japanese too?

Nonetheless we survived the rituals of television, which in an case helped reduce our blood pressure if you can handle being before a formidable looking camera, then what's a formidable looking Commission panel?

Much to our dawning delight, the afternoon's proceedings seemed to take

on an informal and relaxed atmosphere with our presence. Now facing the ever-so-patient commissioners we sat. Mr Lincoln A. Gribble: English teacher and non-conformist extraordinaire. Mr Poia Rewi; Head-boy and master scrub-cutter from Tuhoe country. Mr Hakopa Tapiata, Mr Karaka Tuhakaraina, and myself: a select group with the common gift of language.

With a burst of intrepidity, our normally bovine Head Prefect had sprung to the fore already commencing stage one of our loose scheme melting the commissioners with kind words:

’T am privileged this afternoon to welcome you all here. You know from our greetings out on the marae how welcome you are. You have brought yourselves before young people a symbolic gathering of the youth of New Zealand....

"You have a powerful team to listen to our submissions we would not have sought better.”

Ahh what a crafty race are we the Maori, swamp them with hospitality first.

Now considerably more warmed to our cause, the Commission spent the next half-hour in the enthralling company of Mr Tapiata:

"What makes us Maoris? Why are we not just brown-skinned Europeans? It is something inside us that makes us Maoris. Te Mana, te Wehi. te Ihi. It's the inner strength and cultural depth that sets us apart from the rest.

"We now stand on the ground that was fought for by the pupils of 1973. by the Young Maori party of the early twentieth century, at a college conceived of by Sir George Grey.

"We. the students of Te Aute represent the true New Zealanders. New Zealanders who are able to appreciate the two main cultures in this land."

With a Nikon SLR slung around my neck, and the latest in home video cameras crocked under my arm, I began:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is it. The latest, most highly advanced, technological weapon in the world today....

"1 mean, you've all heard the saying 'the pen is mightier than the sword'... in similar vein the ‘camera is mightier than the gun'.

"... there are only two cameras that I know of available for Maori use: one for Kolia, and one for Te Karere koiana noa iho! Together they provide less than

thirty minutes of teleivsion time a week. That’s less than 0.1% of the total viewing time for the people who make up 15% of the whole population and own 12% of TVNZ’s shareholdings.

“We are trapped within the case of European television, and whatever major breakthroughs are made, they are in reality negligible.

“But then, what is the point of going it alone in the broadcasting world? Well it all boils down to responsibility, the responsibility of our matua-tipuna to hand down their precious gifts.... But the old people can’t reach the young anymore, it’s all to do with a barricade called the generation gap.

“To reach them means filtering this knowledge through their own environment ... T.V. and radio.” With my part completed, Mr Tuhakaraina wasted no time with formalities: “Give us the equipment and resources and we can show not only New Zealand, but the world, true New Zealand culture the Maori. “You can see what happens when Maori are shown the ropes don’t you? You want a comedian? just ask a Maori, you want a Governor-General just ask a Maori. You want a first class rugby player, an opera singer, a bishop go ask a Maori. Just give us the chance and we’ll excel in whatever field we’re given.

“All throughout the media, Maori are constantly compacted, overwhelmingly suppressed and unable to expand or grow. Too long have we scraped the bottom of the barrel ... we want the cream of the crop.”

Being an editor and journalist in his own right, Mr Tuhakaraina’s research had taken him from television studios in Auckland, to the local radio stations in Hastings, and further to Wellington to do an introductory journalism course taught by the very editor of this magazine:

“I met Philip at a journalism course held during the May holidays. He struck me as very Maori and also very European a living example of biculturalism at its best.”

On the inspiration once again of Mr Gribble, an entire sixth form English class had set out for Wellington to increase the current school supply of this unique magazine to thirty. E te Rangatira o te ropu Tu Tangata, tena koe E nga tangata whakahaere o te pukapuka nei. kia ora ano koutou. He mea motuhake o koutou mahi. During the course of discussion with Mr Philip Whaanga, the sad fact was uncovered that out of 10,000 copies produced. only around 8000 are sold very few of the Maori population are reading Tu Tangata. Again another factor highlighting the urgent need for support in the Maori journalism sector.

In front of him were stacked folders each full with the accumulated evidence from past years clippings, reports, pro-

Peter Perring Te Aute College (Dux 1985) Pukehou, Hawke’s Bay

posals, and assorted trivia. Beside him waited a box of video cassettes and video equipment, as visual evidence to suport his claims. Amongst it stood Mr L.A. Gribble.

He was now pushed for time. The commission, God bless them, could have taken his four or five hour submission in their stride, not so with our fellow students in the audience. With a sense of haste and sporadic displays of evidence, he had made his points clear in just under an hour a credit to a man of language.

His finale was a simple message exemplifying good race relations, for he now had on screen, recording artists of every ethnic origin proclaiming, “We are the World, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving.”

Our efforts it seems now, were merely token. It was not really the clever framing of words or researched proof that made the impression those had

already been made explicit by previous submissions on this matter. It was more the uniqueness of the situation: young Maori people contributing towards what they deemed a worthwhile force for their future that in itself was the message that day. So now that the hooplah of the day has ebbed, just where does the situation stand. A bilingual, bicultural influence in the broadcasting area is a positive solution to our racial discord. As a New Zealand youth, I am constantly aware of it, and I am hoping our small efforts here and the efforts of other concerned people elsewhere, has awakened the older generation to meet the desires of our future.

The next few years shall be interesting and hopefully fulfilling, we can only hope, Na reira, Nau te rourou Naku te rourou Ka orate manuhiri.