TVNZ furious over Veitch rumours

TVNZ and the National Business Review are understood to be warring over reports relating to Tony Veitch. Photo / Herald on Sunday

TVNZ is fuming over reports questioning some of its executives' roles in the Tony Veitch saga and has reiterated its full confidence in them and chief executive Rick Ellis.

The company is understood to be in a stoush with The National Business Review over reports which the state broadcaster believes are defamatory. The NBR has said it stands by the articles.

A report in another publication this week raised allegations that suggested TVNZ executives may have originally been more fully aware of the Veitch assault allegations than publicly acknowledged.

This included an allegation that Veitch signed the Kristin Dunne-Powell confidentiality agreement in a second-floor TVNZ office - well before the case ever became public - and that this took place in front of company representatives.

Last night TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said the confidentiality agreement was not signed in the TVNZ lawyer's second-floor office. "Nobody at TVNZ had any part in the negotiations concerning the confidentiality agreement."

She said the company was disturbed about rumours that continued to circle.

"The chairman of the board, as recently as last week and in response to widespread, false rumours has again, expressed [the board's] confidence in Mr Ellis' handling of the issue and the way his senior managers dealt with it at the time.

"The Veitch story is a very sad story, and it is a shame that some people with vested interests apparently feel compelled to spread false rumours.

"Unfortunately TVNZ has been the meat in the sandwich in this, but we have total confidence we behaved properly in the face of very complicated and conflicting legal and ethical decisions that had to be made at the time."

In July last year, it was revealed that four senior TVNZ managers had known about allegations of an incident involving Veitch for about seven months before the matter became public, but that they did not refer the matter to Ellis.

Ellis said at the time the managers had considered it a private, civil matter and had put Veitch in touch with a counsellor and a lawyer who would act for him at his own expense.

Last night Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman said through a spokeswoman he "previously received assurances from TVNZ that the Veitch matter was handled appropriately" and had "no further comment at this time".