Last April, National appointed its crony, former MP Georgina te Heuheu, to the board of Māori Television. While te Heuheu might be qualified, the appointment process was pure cronyism - the position was not advertised, and instead te heuheu was shoulder-tapped by her former colleagues. So its hardly surprising that now that she is in the job, she is doing the same thing herself, shoulder-tapping a friend with a shady history to serve as Chief Executive, despite a serious conflict of interest:
Clare Curran: Is he aware that the lead contender for the position of Māori Television chief executive, Paora Maxwell, was not considered suitable for the position by the recruitment company engaged to oversee the process and was not included on the shortlist, but that this decision was overturned by his close friend and board chair Georgina te Heuheu, and does this meet his test for an appropriate appointment process?
[...]
Clare Curran: Is he aware that Paora Maxwell has been in long-term debt to Te Māngai Pāho, which is the major programming funder for Māori Television, for money owed from his own production company, Te Aratai Productions; if so, does he think it appropriate that the board would appoint a chief executive in long-term debt to the station’s programme funder?
(Yesterday we learned that that same Paora Maxwell left TVNZ "under a cloud of financial and staff mismanagement" and that Māori Television apparently refused a briefing on him offered by TVNZ)
So, a crony appoints a crony, using the same practices which appointed her. its hardly surprising, but we deserve better when public servants - and public money - are involved.
