Ryall Tony: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Ryall Tony: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4667] 
Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) 
: 
 I want to be quite clear that the National Party in Opposition is strongly opposed to this bill. We do not believe that this Government has earned any right to change the charter of Radio New Zealand. The National Party believes that Radio New Zealand is currently in breach of its charter and we believe that this organisation is overly secretive and heading in the wrong direction. 
Every day we read of the financial mismanagement of Radio New Zealand. I was Minister responsible for Radio New Zealand when the previous National Government put in excess of $6 million of additional funding into Radio New Zealand over a 3-year period. We were assured that that would fix Radio New Zealand’s financial problems. They were not fixed; they have got worse. While Radio New Zealand is skimping to find the money to pay for a quality news service as we speak the board and management of Radio New Zealand are spending its valuable resources on expanding its FM coverage around New Zealand—duplicating its signal. Frankly the money would be better spent on trying desperately to maintain current standards than on expanding the FM network. The FM network expansion should be put on hold if this company is in such financial straits. We do not need FM National Radio in the Bay of Plenty if there is no money to pay for decent reporters; we can wait. So it is a waste of taxpayers’ money that the board and management of Radio New Zealand are continuing its expansion programme—duplicating the signal—when it is completely unnecessary and the money could be spent somewhere else. 
I think money is being misspent by Radio New Zealand. It is commissioning audience surveys that it will not release to elected members of Parliament. Mrs Katherine Rich has sought time and time again to get the ACNeilson annual survey of listeners released for full public scrutiny. Neither the Minister nor the board will release it; neither will release the survey. Why will they not release it? Because that information is damning of the performance of the board and the management of Radio New Zealand. We know that in the period we are considering most recently Radio New Zealand lost 33000 of its listeners to National Radio and it lost over 10 percent of its listeners to Concert FM. It is so resigned to losing listenership that it says that one of its really good achievements will be if it does not lose 10 percent in the next year. That is no way to run a company at all. 
The National Party in Opposition is also concerned that the spa pool liberals who dominate this Government are seeking to insert the words “spiritual and ethical” into the charter of Radio New Zealand. Well what does that mean? What does inserting “spiritual” values of New Zealand mean? What about the spiritual values of Radio New Zealand? Would Mr Sean Plunket say that his spiritual values were being served well by that company when we consider the way that he was treated? Allegedly he was offered Linda Clark’s job then after some intervention he was “dis-offered” the job? What about “ethical”? Who in Radio New Zealand is going to stand up and say he or she will set the standard for ethical behaviour not only in the company but also on the airwaves? Who in Radio New Zealand is going to set that ethical benchmark? The Government is silent and I am not surprised because this is just nonsense. It is absolute nonsense that these non-secular ideas of spirituality should be included in this charter. 
I have to say this to the House: when the Government changes in less than 2 years’ time this charter will go out of the window. This board of directors of Radio New Zealand would have to consider their role in the future because they cannot run a company. They are not delivering what New Zealanders want. They are making wrong financial decisions. They cannot get enough money to employ a reporter in Dunedin so they are in breach of the charter but they are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars duplicating Radio New Zealand’s transmission signal around the country. That is a waste of money. That is the wrong decision and we oppose it strongly. 
This little 1-page bill also includes more nonsense that Radio New Zealand will be required to have programmes that cater to a “full range of age groups”. What does that mean? What is Radio New Zealand going to do for 6-month-old children? My wife would tell us we have Concert FM for 6-month-old children to send them off to sleep. That is probably about right. But what has it got for 2-year-old children? Nothing! What has it got for 3-year-old children? Nothing! 
Debate interrupted. 
Sitting suspended from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.