David Seymour’s criticism of RNZ and its board not ‘helpful’, says minister Paul Goldsmith
Thursday, 14 May 2026
ACT leader and deputy prime minister David Seymour says he stands by his criticism of RNZ and its board, after the broadcasting minister described the remarks as unhelpful.
Seymour last month criticised the state broadcaster for appointing John Campbell as co-host of Morning Report, and suggested that chief executive Paul Thompson “won't be answering the call at RNZ for much longer”.
The deputy PM, who has not appeared on Morning Report for several years, suggested the Government would be replacing RNZ’s board with “better people” who would have a say over the network’s management.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament on Thursday, Minister for Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith wouldn’t say if Seymour had crossed a line with his remarks, but said: “I don't think some of his comments were helpful in relation particularly to the board.”
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He continued: “We appoint the board, and it’s definitely the role of the board to … make decisions around management.”
Goldsmith said he had had “informal conversations” with Seymour around the criticism, but wouldn’t reveal what the pair discussed.
“I'm not going to go into the details of the conversation, and frankly, I can't remember exactly what I said,” the minister said.
Goldsmith added that he had confidence in RNZ’s board, and “very much” supported RNZ.
In a statement to The Post, Seymour said he stood by his original comments and had not given direction to RNZ ‒ something that the law forbids shareholding ministers from doing.
“The worst any journalist has come up with, is a so-called expert who says I might have broken the ‘spirit’ of the law,” said Seymour.
“The only thing that is unhelpful is that parts of the media remain obsessed with comments I made more than two weeks ago.
“If some in the media would rather spend another week talking about themselves though, that rather proves my point. But I’d rather focus on the things that make a difference in people’s lives.”
The Government ‒ though especially the National Party ‒ has turned up the dial on its criticism of some media outlets in recent weeks.
National lodged a complaint with Parliament’s Speaker over an incident outside the office of National MP Stuart Smith involving TVNZ’s former political editor Maiki Sherman.
Sherman was subsequently suspended from Parliament for five days, and later resigned over a separate incident.
Police minister Mark Mitchell, meanwhile, criticised a 1News report in February for being “unbalanced”.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also cancelled his weekly slot on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme.
Last week, the Government confirmed it was intending to disestablish the Broadcasting Standards Authority.