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Wed, 22 Feb 2012
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI) ---- New Zealand’s foreign minister says it is entirely appropriate for the ministry of foreign affairs to advise TVNZ to withhold feeds from Fiji’s state broadcaster.
The FBC said it has had two requests to get TVNZ’s free Pacific service turned down on instructions from New Zealand’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Murray McCully said supplying the programming would amount to government to government support, which would go against sanctions that have been in place since the 2006 coup.
“If state-owned enterprises in New Zealand are asked to supply something to a Pacific neighbour, I’m sure that in most cases they’d want to assist. But where that Pacific neighbour is the subject of government sanctions, for reasons that I think are highly regrettable, I think it’s entirely appropriate that they ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs how this would look in relation to the sanctions.”
McCully said this is not the only request for assistance that has been declined.
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