Radio NZ bosses to correct statements to Parliament over meeting

March 28, 2018

RNZ heads earlier defended a meeting between manager Carol Hirschfeld and the Broadcasting Minister.

It has now been reported that Radio NZ chairman Richard Griffin told a National MP that senior RNZ manager Carol Hirschfeld was going to hand in her resignation over her controversial meeting with Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran in Wellington in early December 2017.

The NZ Herald reports that National MP Melissa Lee revealed that Mr Griffin told her beforehand about the impending resignation before it was tendered by Ms Hirschfeld yesterday.

Speaking from Parliament today, Ms Curran said she had been naive over the circumstances surrounding what she thought was just an informal catchup with the RNZ staffer.

"In hindsight and now that I understand RNZ has clear policies around meeting with Ministers that I wasn't aware of at the time I would not have that meeting again.

"It may have been naive but I was unaware of that."

Originally Ms Hirschfeld said the meeting with the Minister was accidental, the texts clearly show otherwise and the RNZ manager resigned after acknowledging the discrepancy in her original account of events.

However Ms Curran says she will not be stepping down over the meeting, saying yesterday: "At the time no, I didn't believe it (the meeting) was inappropriate, from my perspective no".

RNZ heads are set to front up to Parliament to correct statements they made to MPs about the meeting between Ms Hirshfeld and Ms Curran.


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