Sir Keith Holyoake not paid for part

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33583, 11 July 1974, Page 10

Sir Keith Holyoake not paid for part

Sir Keith Holyoake has received no payment for taking part in a television advertisement promoting the magazine, “New Zealand Nature Heritage.”

Sir Keith said he agreed to appear in die advertisement to encourage people to learn more about their environment and so take better care of it. In a letter to “The Press” a correspondent, “Kiwi Keith,” said it was deplorable for Sir Keith to put himself forward as a “cheap television advertising actor.” “. . . When one stops to consider that he was our Prime Minister and has received a knighthood to boot, this is most undignified behaviour, to say the least. In fact, it can only be described as disgusting.” Sir Keith said the publisher would give $3OOO towards an award for the person or group of persons who made the greatest contribution to the preservation of the New Zealand environment in 1974. "Mrs Gough Whitlam, wife of the Australian Prime Minister, played the same role in a similar publication in Australia last year,” said Sir Keith. “I was also impresesd by the fact that the Duke of Edinburgh had written the foreword to this series. “I felt that my small effort.

would be in the interests of the people of New Zealand. That my intentions were purely altruistic is shown by the fact that I declined to accept any payment for my participation," said Sir Keith.