American giant Discovery purchased Mediaworks December 2020, 5 weeks after election
Brian Mullane made this Official Information request to Willie Jackson
Response to this request is long overdue. By law Willie Jackson should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.
From: Brian Mullane
Dear Willie Jackson,
In December 2020, 5 weeks after the general election, it was announced that American media giant Discovery had purchased Mediaworks, a privately owned TV and Radio company that had been competing with the State owned TV and radio network upto that point.
That fact probably seemed innocuous at that time, but the New Zealand public had no idea what was in store when the Elite Maori Caucus (EMC) unveiled their top secret agenda immediately after that 2020 election, won outright by Labour, not needing any other Party to govern with them, a result brought about by the emotional turmoil the New Zealand public was thrown into following the Christchurch massacre of 15th March 2019, 18 months earlier.
The parading around of Labour leader Ardern, dressed in Muslim garb, photographed hugging Muslim women and children and portrayed as this amazing messiah who had been sent to save us and the world from these nasty terrorists is the nemesis of our current political turmoil. It was on that basis Labour won that election so convincingly.
The EMC agenda included He Puapua, 3 Waters, co-covernance, et al, never disclosed in the Labour Party pre-election manifesto, therefore without mandate, therefore illegal, but dumped onto an unsuspecting and unprepared population that has torn apart the very facbric of our once great country with racial tension and division, manifested by that same very secret EMC agenda.
It was in February 2021 that government announce a $55 million package 'to save new Zealand journalism' and a few months later Ardern announced there's likely more will be paid to media.
Within the year we saw the total Maorification of all out free to air broadcasters, with Maori presenters replacing most of the non-Maori and beginning to speak a language foreign to 90% of the population and has steadily gotten worse, with ads, like the recent census ads on TV, totally in Maori and now we are about to bombarded with Maori ads urging people to swap from their non-Maori electoral roles to Maori roles. That fact was spelt out in the census ads, which made clear the census was mostly about electoral boundaries and were intended to get people to swap so Maori got more Maori seats in Parliament.
My questions to you are based on the fact that it was crucial for government to have all free-to-air media (TV and radio) singing from the same songsheet, i.e. having all media Maorified and using Maori staff and language, hence the neccessity to have Mediaworks on board with the Maori agenda, hence the sale to Discovery.
Q1. How much money did NZ government pay Discovery to help them get established in New Zealand?
Q2. What concessions, i.e. tax or any other, were offered to Discovery to clinch the deal for them to buy Mediaworks?
Q3. What ongoing payments and concessions were paid or made available to Discovery and when will/did they stop?
Q4. How long before the 2020 election did government start negotiating with Discovery?
Q5. How much money in total has been paid to all New Zealand media, over and above the inital $55 million.
Yours faithfully,
Brian Mullane.
From: W Jackson (MIN)
Willie Jackson
Tçnâ koe
Thank you for contacting the office of Hon Willie Jackson, Minister for
Broadcasting and Media, Minister for Mâori Development, Associate Minister
for Housing (Mâori Housing), Associate Minister for Social Development
(Mâori Employment) and Associate Minister for ACC.
The Minister considers all correspondence important and appreciates you
taking the time to write. Please note that as Minister Jackson receives a
large amount of correspondence it is not always possible to personally
reply to all emails.
The following guidelines apply:
• Portfolio related correspondence will be considered and responded to
where appropriate
• If your message is for Minister Jackson’s advice, or if you have copied
your email to another Minister and/or Member of Parliament with more
appropriate portfolio responsibilities, then this will be noted
• Invitations and requests to meet with the Minister will be processed as
soon as possible and a staff member will be in contact with you in due
course. Please note this email is an acknowledgment that your
invitation/request has been received
• If you have made a request for official information then this will
be managed in accordance with the provisions of the Official Information
Act 1982, which may include transfer to a more relevant Minister or agency
• If your email falls outside of the Minister’s portfolio
responsibilities, expresses a personal view, or is copied to multiple
Members of Parliament, then your opinion will be noted and your
correspondence may be transferred to another office, or there may be no
further response to you
• Media queries will be referred to the Minister’s press secretary
• To find out more about Minister Jackson read
his [1]biography or[2] recent statements.
Again, thank you for writing.
Office of Hon Willie Jackson MP
Minister for Broadcasting and Media | Minister for Mâori Development |
Associate Minister for ACC
Phone +64 4 817 8722 | Email: [Willie Jackson request email]
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From: W Jackson (MIN)
Willie Jackson
Dear Brian,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request dated 14 April 2023. You have requested the following information:
“Q1. How much money did NZ government pay Discovery to help them get established in New Zealand?
Q2. What concessions, i.e. tax or any other, were offered to Discovery to clinch the deal for them to buy Mediaworks?
Q3. What ongoing payments and concessions were paid or made available to Discovery and when will/did they stop?
Q4. How long before the 2020 election did government start negotiating with Discovery?
Q5. How much money in total has been paid to all New Zealand media, over and above the inital $55 million."
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 15 May 2023, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Willie Jackson MP
Minister for Mâori Development | Minister for Broadcasting and Media | Associate Minister for ACC
Phone +64 4 817 8722 | Email [Willie Jackson request email]
show quoted sections
From: W Jackson (MIN)
Willie Jackson
Kia ora Brian,
Please find attached a response from Minister Jackson.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Willie Jackson MP
Minister for Broadcasting and Media | Minister for Māori Development | Associate Minister for ACC
Phone +64 4 817 8722 | Email [Willie Jackson request email]
show quoted sections
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