ACT Party leader and new Cabinet Minister David Seymour says the media are "almost" proving New Zealand First leader and coalition partner Winston Peters' criticisms to be true.
During the election campaign and since becoming Deputy Prime Minister, Peters has repeatedly hit out at reporters. This week, he appeared to suggest TVNZ and RNZ could fall under the new government's remit that Crown Entities communicate primarily in English.
He has also appeared to refer to the $55m Public Interest Journalism Fund as "bribery".
Yesterday, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins pointed out the fund was set up when Peters was last deputy prime minister.
This morning, Seymour backed up Peters – to an extent.
"The great irony is, the media are almost proving his point by focusing more on his comments than the policy initiatives that the Government has brought about," he said.
"I think the best way for the media to prove itself to New Zealanders and earn their trust is actually to focus on the issues that are affecting them.
"If you go up and down New Zealand as I have for the last three years, spoken on street corners and town halls and listened to people, there is a lot of concern about trust in media.
"I suspect that the Public Interest Journalism Fund has become a lightning rod for a wider issue."
However, he agreed the topic is a "sideshow".
NZ On Air was in charge of administering the fund. Under the Broadcasting Act of 1989, the government cannot give NZ On Air any direction on any programme or content, including news or current affairs content.
State-owned TVNZ (which includes 1News) is a Crown entity company but is funded commercially with its editorial independence enshrined in the Television New Zealand Act 2003 — meaning it currently operates with freedom from political interference.
The 100-day plan
Seymour was eager to talk about the economy this morning.
It comes after the new Government yesterday released its 49-point plan for its first 100 days in power.
Seymour said the Government would stop a "huge amount of wasteful spending" and focus the Reserve Bank on the cost of living.
"Particularly keen to talk about what this government that's just been elected by the majority of New Zealanders can do to address those concerns that people have," he said. "Particularly around the economy, particularly around crime, and especially around issues like division, health and education.
"We've tipped huge amounts of money in for the last six years [under the Labour-NZ First and Labour governments], haven't got the results, that is now the pass that we've caught and we're very eager to carry the ball forward.
"Monetary policy has gone sideways for too long, you've had a Reserve Bank that's been focused on too many things.
"It's now gonna be focused on one thing: Price stability, getting inflation under control."
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