Taxpayers bought Maori TV golf clubs

Taxpayers bought golf clubs for two company directors making programmes for the Maori Television Service, National MP Katherine Rich said yesterday.

Under the protection of parliamentary privilege, Mrs Rich said the companies producing a game show for youth were under investigation for sloppy accounting and inappropriate expenditure.

"How does the purchase by DreamTime Entertainment of two sets of golf clubs valued at $2281, ostensibly as props for Te Wero, a youth game show, but now in the possession of two company directors ... contribute to the promotion of te reo?" Mrs Rich asked Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.

Mr Horomia said he was waiting to see an audit report on how Maori broadcasting agency Te Mangai Paho (TMP) monitored all its contracts, including the one for producing Te Wero.

An Audit New Zealand report on the Te Wero contract also raised other questions about financial management, Mrs Rich said. These included 13 petty cash cheques totalling $19,810 without any supporting documentation.

The report says DreamTime Entertainment and Te Aratai Film and Television Productions were paid $306,562 by Te Mangai Paho to produce Te Wero.

The auditors said in the March report to Te Mangai Paho that because of a lack of documentation they were unable to comment on the production's financial statements and the appropriateness of expenditure.

The report said the golf clubs were explained as part of props purchase and hire.

"Anthony Wilson [a director of DreamTime] advised us that at the date of our fieldwork, he had one set and a fellow director of the company had the other set," the auditors said.

Mr Wilson could not be contacted yesterday.

"TV companies beg, borrow, lease or rent equipment all the time for productions, so why has the taxpayer forked out nearly $2300 for two sets of golf clubs that are now in the hand of two company directors?" Mrs Rich said.

Te Aratai director Paora Maxwell said that in hindsight DreamTime had been a "very inexperienced" company and in hindsight it would have been wiser for Te Aratai not to get involved at all.

Mr Maxwell said he did not know if Te Wero had been completed and referred further comment to Te Mangai Paho.

Mrs Rich said the audit report showed Te Mangai Paho did not care about what happened with taxpayer money once they allocated it.

Mr Horomia said he was waiting on two reports into Te Mangai Paho. One on the performance of chief executive Trevor Moeke and the other an audit office report on TMP's contract management.

Mr Moeke is currently on paid leave until the inquiry is completed.

The inquiry into Te Mangai Paho was prompted by claims of mismanagement including an allegation an employee approved grants to Maori Sports Casting International while also being paid by the company for casual commentary work.

Mr Moeke knew about the arrangements and at first did nothing. Later he failed to stop them carrying on.

Te Mangai Paho chairman Wira Gardiner said its contract with DreamTime Entertainment for Te Wero was cancelled on February 11 and Te Mangai Paho was in the process of recovering costs from the company.

The contract was cancelled because Te Mangai Paho became aware earlier this year through information that came to its attention that DreamTime may not have been using the Te Mangai Paho funding for Te Wero appropriately, Mr Gardiner said.

"A later Audit New Zealand report of March 5 2003 also found irregularities in expenditure. However, steps were already in train regarding the contract, including steps to recover assets," Mr Gardiner said.

He expected the matter to be resolved soon.

- NZPA