Larry Williams Drive

Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson has stepped up to defend spending $16.1 million on a now-scrapped media merger. National MP Melissa Lee claimed the whole exercise was a waste of money. Jackson said the TVNZ/RNZ merger would future-proof NZ media, and hopes it will go ahead one day when the nation isn't addressing Cyclone Gabrielle and extreme floods. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Willie Jackson's comments are inaccurate, as the merger was scrapped well before Cyclone Gabrielle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.