The board of Maori Television has withdrawn the series Jonah from Tonga from screening on the channel. New Zealand’s minister for Pacific peoples, Alfred Ngaro, said the series “perpetuates negative stereotypes of Pacific people” and “the fact it is pitched as comedy doesn’t make that any more acceptable”. “It’s particularly disappointing to see this program being picked up within weeks of the Human Right’s Commission’s ‘Give nothing to racism’ campaign.” Jonah from Tonga is an Australian television series written by and starring the comedian Chris Lilley. It follows a rebellious Australian boy of Tongan descent who had been introduced in Lilley’s 2007 series, Summer Heights High. Georgina te Heuheu, the chair of Maori Television, said once the full board of became aware of the screening of…