The Broadcasting Standards Authority has found that a discussion on Marae featuring rainbow activist Shaneel Lal breached accuracy standards. The episode aired on TVNZ 1 on April 12 and related to a discussion about Posie Parker’s visit to New Zealand.   

According to the complainant, the segment was inaccurate in multiple respects, as well as being unbalanced and disproportionately favouring views against Parker’s Let Women Speak events. Shaneel Lal, the 2023 Young New Zealander of the Year, was one of three guests on the show, along with AUT's Dean of Law, Khylee Quince and Suzanne Levy, from the organisation Speak Up for Women.   

The BSA considered most of the alleged inaccuracies were unlikely to have significantly affected viewers’ understanding of the broadcast as a whole.  

However, one comment made by Lal which alleged that Parker had told her followers that “due to the transgender agenda, cisgender women are being kidnapped, blended and put into meat for human consumption” was found to be "materially inaccurate" and justified a finding of a breach. 

The authority believed viewers “would have perceived Lal’s statement as an assertion of fact, and it had the potential to mislead viewers as to Parker’s perspective”, given Parker had not stated the “transgender agenda” was responsible for the relevant crime. 

“The misleading characterisation of Parker’s statement...strayed into the realm of personal attack," the BSA said. 

"It detracted from, rather than contributing to, viewers’ understanding of the issues being discussed – an unfortunate outcome in a broadcast considering such important, topical and contentious issues." 

A minority of the authority agreed with the principles and conclusions expressed by the majority but did not agree any potential harm met the threshold for the complaint to be upheld. 

The value was noted of discussing a topical and contentious issue when it had assumed public importance, and that the misleading comment was one aspect of a broader discussion. 

The BSA unanimously found the segment was still considered balanced, because it adequately presented "significant viewpoints through the inclusion of multiple guests, through the host’s questioning, and in the introductory segment".