Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
RNZ has released two comments made by Cabinet Minister Kiritapu Allan at the farewell for her partner Māni Dunlop but withheld the rest, citing privacy.
The broadcaster said there was a public interest in the two comments "about RNZ, a public institution, and which do not affect the privacy of any other person", which were the basis for media reports and prompted a public apology from Allan.
"The remainder of the speech, and the video and audio recording of the RNZ comments, will be withheld to protect the attendees' privacy."
Allan made the speech at RNZ's main Wellington office on 31 March to more than 50 RNZ staff including chief executive Paul Thompson, head of news Richard Sutherland and board member Jane Wrightson.
Her comments took aim at RNZ's treatment of Māori reporters and urged the public broadcaster to have a look at its culture.
The now-released comments from the speech said:
"There is something within this organisation that has to be looked at. Now I know that you said that you would pick up that, the wero, that Māni left. It is not for just you, it is for your SLT (senior leadership team) to pick up. It's for your SLT to pick up. It's for your boards to pick up. That there is something within the organisation that will not, and has not been able to keep Māori talent and that is a question that I think deserves some deep reflection.
"We are looking at these two, and we are looking at this organisation and how it treats its talent. Want to know ... she doesn't need to do it, it's not her role to carry that anymore. So it's to this room, and the people within this place to grow and nurture, show that they have a viable future within this organisation. That you can come in as an intern and that you can get to the top spot, not just because you are Māori but because you have trained them well, you have nurtured them well."
While at the time she had prefaced her comments by saying the speech was off the record and in a personal capacity, in her later apology Allan said she accepted there was "not such a delineation in terms of public perception".
She also acknowledged her comments could have been interpreted as telling RNZ how to manage its staff or company, but "that was not my intent and it is certainly not my job".
Ministers are precluded from giving direction to the public broadcaster in relation to programming, complaints, allegations, newsgathering, news presentation, or responsibility for standards under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995.
In responding to the requests under the Official Information Act for the full transcript of the speech, RNZ's legal adviser George Bignell said the farewell for Dunlop was conducted in accordance with tikanga Māori as well as RNZ's protocols.
This included "an open floor where people could trust that what they said was for that audience only and they were able to speak openly and frankly", he said.
He said the context of a private farewell where kaimahi and whānau were invited to speak openly and honestly, the sensitivity of emotional and private personal information, and the strong expectation of privacy "in the context of a farewell done in accordance with RNZ tikanga" contributed to the decision to withhold the other comments.
He said this was to protect the privacy of individuals, of Allan herself, and to protect the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi.
"We do not consider that the withholding of the information is outweighed by other considerations which would render it desirable in the public interest to make that information available."
He said a degree of disclosure had already been made to the public, with comments also provided by Allan and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
