Broadcasting spokeswoman Clare Curran said today TVNZ had previously made commitments to telling the stories of regional New Zealand.
"This cost cutting exercise demonstrates how hollow those commitments are."
"It beggars belief that you would axe two frontline positions which covers an area of 65,000 square kilometres," the Dunedin South MP said.
"Perhaps the Auckland-based broadcaster thinks the southern part of New Zealand doesn't produce enough news stories?
"And perhaps they are following the lead of their political masters in demonstrating indifference and regional neglect."
TVNZ reporter Megan Martin, of Dunedin, said yesterday the state-owned broadcaster had proposed to disestablish her part-time reporter role and a full-time cameraman/editor role.
A two-week consultation period had begun and the Dunedin office planned to put forward a ''business case'' to argue why the two roles should remain in the city.
''We hope our bosses will listen . . . we put out as much, if not more stories than reporters throughout the rest of the country. We cover arguably the biggest geographical area - 65,588sq km - which includes two cities and arguably the largest tourist area in the country.''
About 30% fewer stories would be produced in Dunedin if the roles were disestablished, Ms Martin said.
Ms Martin believed the newsworthy events in the region justified the status quo.
''We think the regions are extremely important; they [TVNZ] tell us they think that too, so we need to fight our cause and we are very hopeful they will listen to what we say.''
It was also reported yesterday TVNZ is considering a move to a single host of its 6pm weekend news bulletins, and also confirmed the departure of long-time weather presenter Karen Olsen.
The proposed news changes would mean either regular newsreaders Peter Williams or Bernadine Oliver-Kerby could be dropped.
Ms Oliver-Kerby is in the United States and could not be reached for comment while Mr Williams said he had ''absolutely nothing'' to say about the proposal.
On Tuesday, TVNZ also announced it was cancelling long-running magazine show Good Morning, affecting about 15 staff and contractors, including host Jeanette Thomas.
A spokeswoman said the network had ''entered into consultation with a small number of news and current affairs staff'' but Ms Olsen's departure was unrelated.
A statement from head of news and current affairs John Gillespie said the proposals would see ''some possible staff redeployment'' and ''an estimated eight to 10 roles impacted''.
The proposals were about TVNZ continuing to refine its news-gathering processes.
- Shawn McAvinue & NZME
