Whakaata Māori chief executive Shane Taurima. Photo: Te Ao Māori News
A proposal in response to funding cuts will be shared with Whakaata Māori staff by the end of the month.
Chief executive Shane Taurima and Board of Directors chairperson Jamie Tuuta fronted the Māori Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday for the annual review of the 2022/2023 year.
Tuuta told the select committee he was not going to talk about funding issues: "We tend to come here every time to select committee to talk about non-inflation proofing and everything else."
But he acknowledged the key challenge the service faced was the reduction in funding.
In July, it was reported the television service faced a $9.5 million funding decrease over the next three years. Tuuta told the select committee this was "in the order of $10.3m".
Taurima told media after the meeting it was a cut of 25 percent, which would mean significant change in terms of what the service provides, but he was determined to future-proof the service as well.
"I think for any organisation that faces funding cuts of 25 percent, which is what our cost savings target is, we're talking about significant change.
"This is not just about resizing the organisation because of the funding that we have available to us, it's also about ensuring the next 20 years for the waka and beyond."
"This is a last resort," he said, adding the ministry had "looked at everything else possible" in order to achieve cost savings.
"But unfortunately, we're now having to look at the wider organisation and structure and roles to understand how we can continue to deliver great Māori content within the funding parameters that have been set for us."
Three key decisions were outlined during the select committee appearance, including the reduction in the senior leadership team, the shift of the Te Reo channel from a linear offering to an online platform only, as well as a decision to reduce investment in content.
On the reduction of investment, Taurima said: "We're looking at fewer but more high impact projects in the space of content."
"So that does mean that some of the programmes that we see today may not have a future."
Taurima acknowledged there will be an impact on the service for the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
"I suppose the impact here, though, is on the language and the outcomes that we're seeking to achieve, which include the government's audacious goal of a million speakers by 2040.
"But there are more short-to-medium term outcomes also that we're seeking to achieve, which is from valuing the importance of te reo to taking up and using the language."
He said the impact on those outcomes was yet to be seen.
"But we will continue to deliver what we can and deliver great Māori content, as we always have for the past 20 years."
In response to questions from media around not receiving a funding uplift for the majority of Whakaata Māori's existence, Taurima referenced the Māori media sector review from 2022, which he said outlined "the issues that exist with Māori and non-Māori media" and the "inequity of funding".
"We're not talking about just in recent times, but for many, many years that cover Whakaata Māori, iwi radio, as well as the Māori independent production space.
"Addressing that, supporting workforce capability and development and growth, there's never, ever been a well resourced and supported approach taken."
In terms of the sector review report recommendations, Taurima said he was "optimistic and forever hopeful that those next steps will be considered and taken by this and future governments".
For now though, he said the organisation has developed a strategy for Whakaata Māori so they were hopeful it would be funded and prioritised.
Growth of the Māori+ app was discussed at the select committee appearance too, with downloads of the app surpassing 199,000, and their social media presence lifting.
"Digital is our future," Taurima said.
"It's our now, which is why we need to ensure we are investing in digital innovation."
He said the app must be supported and enabled to continue to grow.
"Especially if we're going to achieve that one million speaker goal that we've set ourselves."