Coleman Jonathan: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call in the Committee stage of the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill which brings to a head our election promise in relation to the repeal of the Television New Zealand charter. 
Of course under the last Government Television New Zealand had been labouring for quite some time under what was effectively an unworkable dual mandate. We said when we came into office that we would give Television New Zealand a clear and honest path ahead. When we look at what has happened with the charter in terms of the content on Television New Zealand we see that people would really struggle to tell any difference between the content before the charter during the charter and after the charter. So really it was a fig leaf covering up a lot of sins laid out by the last Labour Government. It had 9 years to get its house in order in terms of public broadcasting. 
Hon Member 
: Sins! 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: “Sins” was probably not the right word to use. The fig leaf was modestly covering what was masquerading as public broadcasting under the last Government. The reality is that Television New Zealand has been 93 percent commercially funded for many many years now under this Government and the last Government. The last Government tried to pretend it had a public broadcaster. In fact it had a publicly owned broadcaster that at times showed public broadcasting content and it will continue to do so once the charter is repealed. 
This is a very honest and straight up bill. It removes the charter and replaces it with a set of statutory functions. The statutory functions of Television New Zealand are “to be a successful national television and digital media company providing a range of content and services on a choice of delivery platforms and maintaining its commercial performance.” I think it would be very hard to argue credibly against that. Furthermore in carrying out its functions “TVNZ must provide high-quality content that—(a) is relevant to and enjoyed and valued by New Zealand audiences; and (b) encompasses both New Zealand and international content and reflects Maori perspectives. (3) TVNZ’s services must include the provision of channels that are free of charge and available to audiences throughout New Zealand.” 
A further part of this bill makes available works previously locked up in the Television New Zealand archives—works that were made before the Broadcasting Act 1989. Up until this point a very complex process had to be gone through for those works to be seen involving basically contacting every single person on the rolling credits shown at the end of each episode which proved unworkable and meant that that material was never ever seen. 
This legislation will replace the current arrangements with a scheme whereby a reasonable attempt can be made to notify people involved with the production. They can come forward and apply for compensation for the programme being shown and if they do not come forward the programme can still be shown. The legislation is bringing out a very workable scheme to unlock the Television New Zealand archive. The public will benefit from this; it will certainly be good for the producers and for the actors and we think it is a very practical way forward. 
When one looks at what we have done one can see a very clear honest approach to public broadcasting. We have maintained the $231 million a year that goes into public broadcasting. We have said there are a number of ways in which we can provide public broadcasting and New Zealand On Air is an excellent model. We think it is best if we put the money through the New Zealand On Air model so that the best productions get a chance to be seen on the screen and the public benefits. 
Let us face it: the public today do not mind where they watch the content; they just want access to the content. I would be very surprised if anyone in this Chamber were to disagree with us on the point that the New Zealand On Air model does a great job for New Zealand and has provided great content on the screen for New Zealanders for many many years. This is just the next step in repealing the Television New Zealand charter. 
Clare Curran 
: What’s next? 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: What is next is the third reading. It will be very interesting to see whether Labour in its broadcasting manifesto will say it will reinstate the Television New Zealand charter—I will not hold my breath. I think Labour members will talk big on this but I do not think we will actually see any action. They had 9 years to do something. If they really wanted to turn Television New Zealand back into a fully State-funded public broadcaster they had the chance to do that. If they want to do that at the election they should say so but they should also say where they will get several hundred million dollars a year to run it. 
I commend this bill to the Committee.