Possible Veitch payout worries Govt

Peter Williams to front TVNZ's Olympics coverage

Broadcasting Minister Trevor Mallard says he would be concerned if Tony Veitch received a payout for losing his TVNZ job over a domestic violence incident.

Broadcaster Veitch has been sidelined from his sports presenting jobs at TVNZ and Radio Sport after last week admitting "lashing out" at former partner Kristin Dunne-Powell in 2006, an attack that put her in hospital.

Meanwhile, it has been announced veteran broadcaster Peter Williams will replace Veitch as Television New Zealand frontman for the Beijing Olympics.

Williams will present the evening coverage, and the sports news within the 6pm bulletin, while Geoff Bryan will continue as presenter of the daytime Olympic coverage.

Both TVNZ and The Radio Network have since admitted senior managers knew last year of Veitch's domestic incident, but suggested he did not reveal the full details.

TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis said at the weekend four senior managers knew of "an incident" between Veitch and his former partner, but were satisfied it was a "civil matter" that could be handled privately.

Mr Mallard asked for a report on the issue today from TVNZ board chairman Sir John Anderson, but was left frustrated as it contained little information not in the news media.

Mr Mallard said ministers expected not to be surprised by events involving state-owned companies, but over the last week he had been finding out about Veitch from news reports, not TVNZ.

Asked if he would be concerned if the process under way ended with a pay out, Mr Mallard said "yes".

Asked if a payout was likely, he replied "no".

Mr Mallard said he wanted to know what executives were told in the past and why they then chose to promote Veitch as the "face of the Olympics", knowing there was an incident hanging over him.

Mr Mallard said he had faith in Sir John and he had been assured that Mr Ellis had not known about Veitch's incident.

"It is a question of why he didn't know."

The Government was running a campaign on domestic violence and it was clear there was a conflict between the promotion of that campaign on TVNZ and Veitch's presence on the screen, he said.

TVNZ had also claimed its coverage of the Olympics was part of its charter performance and also chosen Veitch to front that coverage.

"Prima facie it is a very gross breach of the charter," Mr Mallard said.

Mr Mallard said it appeared the executives Veitch had spoken too may have been given a different impression of the incident than that which had since emerged.

Mr Mallard said some of those involved were journalists and lawyers – "part of what they have got to do is ask more questions".

Mr Ellis was unavailable for two days due to "health reasons", so Mr Mallard did not know when he would get a final report.

He told journalists not to read too much into Mr Ellis being away, as was due to a long-planned appointment.

Prime Minister Helen Clark also heaped the pressure on TVNZ today, saying if senior managers knew the details of the affair, but failed to act, then there was a "moral crisis in the heart of the organisation".

TVNZ news later reported that Sir John said a "highly agitated" Veitch had originally told news executives very little detail about the incident.

Sir John said his initial inquiries revealed Veitch told TVNZ he had been under pressure to pay-out his former partner.

There apparently had been no mention of a physical assault, but instead it was raised as a "minor fracas".

Sir John could not say whether any questions had been asked over the nature of the incident, but it appeared Veitch's direct boss was told about the amount that was paid out.

Sir John said this should have set off alarm bells and resulted in more questions being asked.

Meanwhile, Veitch has been reported as saying he thought his ex-partner had suffered only bruising after he "lashed out" at her and was not told how serious her injuries were until months afterwards.

Last week, The Dominion Post reported her injuries were so severe she spent time in a wheelchair.

Veitch was reported to have secretly paid her $170,000 compensation in an agreement that required her to keep the attack secret.

National's SOE spokesman Gerry Brownlee yesterday said TVNZ's actions in what was an "image driven industry" showed very poor judgment and looked like "amateur hour".

- NZPA