Derek Tini Fox

Derek Fox was born in Wairoa and was educated at Ngata Memorial College and St Stephens School. In 1964 he was awarded a Ngarimu and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Secondary School Scholarship. He attended Auckland University in 1966, transferred to Victoria and began working for NZBC in 1967. Fox began making programmes in the Overseas Programmes Exchange section and in the Māori programme unit of NZBC, transferred to the News Section of the NZBC and has worked as a journalist ever since. He spent 21 years associated with NZBC, BCNZ, South Pacific Television and Television New Zealand. At the end of 1986 he returned to Mahia where he is still based. In the early 1990s Fox formed Mana Māori Media and established Mana News which is broadcast on 21 radio stations around the country including National Radio. With business partner, Gary Wilson, Fox is a founder, co-director, owner and publisher of the independent Māori news magazine Mana. After a ten-year break from Television New Zealand Fox was asked in 1996 to be a host on the television programme Marae - a position he still holds. He has also been part of the Ralston programme. Fox has been used as a commentator on Māori matters and has been guest host on the 9-12 show on National Radio. He was Mayor of Wairoa from Fox wrote papers for the Report of the Royal Commission on Social Policy in 1988, and wrote an autobiographical article in North and South in January 1998.

Fox unsuccessfully stood for Parliament as an independent in 1999, and again in 2008 for the Māori Party, which he had co-founded in 2000. His political aspirations had been controversially put on hold in 2001, when he was appointed chairman of the Māori Television Service. Opposition MPs at the time argued this appointment was a move by the Labour government to remove Fox as a political threat in the Māori seats.

Fox was instrumental in setting up the Māori Television Service, serving as chair of the first MTS board, After which he returned to his political aspirations, and his work with the Māori Party. He unsuccessfully contested the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat against former Labour Māori Affairs Minister (and Fox's own relative) Parekura Horomia, losing by 1609 votes. Fox's most recent appointment was as Press Secretary to Māori Party co-leader Tariana Turia. In that role he contributed to Māori Party speeches, press releases and to its website.

Biographical sources

• Phone conversation with Derek Fox, August 1998.
• https://www.nzonscreen.com/person/derek-fox/biography 8 November 2016