MEDIAWATCH: Destroying Iwi Radio is political and dangerous to our democracy
The decision to cut the iwi radio news service is more than a broadcasting change — it raises serious concerns about media freedom, te reo Māori access, and the health of democracy in Aotearoa.
Iwi Radio News Service Cut Raises Alarm
Concerns mount over axing of national te reo Māori radio news service
Why Māori Broadcasting Is Essential Public Infrastructure
The decision to cut the national te reo Māori radio news service has sparked strong concern within Māori broadcasting, with Radio Waatea General Manager Matthew Tukaki warning of serious consequences for communities across Aotearoa.
Tukaki says the removal of the service will leave a significant gap in trusted, accessible information for Māori listeners who rely on radio as a primary source of news in te reo Māori. For many iwi and rural communities, the service has played a critical role in keeping people informed on national issues, local developments and matters directly affecting Māori.
He believes the decision reflects a deeper misunderstanding of the purpose and value of Māori radio. Rather than being treated as an essential public service, Tukaki says it appears to have been viewed through a narrow funding lens that fails to recognise its cultural, linguistic and community importance. The national news service has been a key platform for normalising te reo Māori in everyday life while also ensuring Māori perspectives are consistently represented.
Crisis Communication and the Risk to Vulnerable Communities
There are also growing concerns about the implications during times of crisis. Tukaki warns that radio remains one of the most reliable forms of communication when emergencies strike, particularly in areas where internet and mobile coverage can be limited or disrupted. Without a coordinated national Māori news service, there are fears that vital information may not reach vulnerable communities in a timely or culturally appropriate way.
Waatea
Political Motives and the Silencing of Māori Media
This Government’s anti-Māori, anti-Treaty, anti-Worker, anti-Renter, anti-Beneficiary, anti-Disabled, anti-Environment agenda can only pass if the Fourth Estate doesn’t wake the sleepy hobbits of muddle Nu-Zilind.
The Government can rely on NZME to stick to the party line, they can rely on TVNZ being timid and RNZ/Stuff have too small a social media footprint to generate political backlash, but Māori media have been front and centre in challenging this Government’s terrible agenda.
That is the real reason, they have been cut and the pathetic downgrading to a news hub run by the most timid Māori Network in NZ is to ensure Māori media is muzzled in the election year.
What This Means for Democracy in Election Year
We should be disgusted but the blitzkrieg tactics of this Government have left many tired and exhausted so these types of naked abuses of power are barely remarked upon.
If you want to muzzle the fourth estate guard dogs, you euthanise the Māori ones first.
Stripping back iwi radio’s national news capability is not just a funding decision — it is a decision about whose voices matter in Aotearoa. In an election year, weakening Māori media risks narrowing the democratic conversation at the very moment it should be widest.
Mr Bradbury, how utterly typical of New Zealand today that something Maori is labelled an essential service when in reality it is a politically motivated an anti Coalition government propaganda machine. Regarded kindly only by Maori separatists and radical left wing activists like you. A burden on the taxpayer in disguise.
This is simply ugly political RACISM at its worst, typical of this disgraceful CoC. If it goes ahead, it will be the biggest, most undemocratic blunder this CoC could ever make. Maori, our indigenous people, are being abused, misused and treated appallingly again. When will this smug settler mob realise they are the outsiders in this country and show some respect? Luxon et al you have a lot to answer for with your “anti” agenda! Seems you will go to any dishonourable lengths to get what you personally want!