4. Question No. 4—Prime MinisterCHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 4—Prime Minister4. CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes particularly this Government's decision to increase the medicines budget by 43 percent since we took office enabling Pharmac to make more than 200 medicines available for thousands of people. This funding has enabled Pharmac to reach a provisional agreement with medicines supplier Vertex to fund Trikafta for people with cystic fibrosis who are aged six and over and who meet eligibility criteria. Funding of Trikafta is proposed to start from 1 April next year. It shows what a difference the Government's budget boost is making. When we came into Government the medicines budget like other parts of the health system had been starved of investment despite record population growth. In 2020 we promised we'd increase Pharmac's budget by $200 million over four years. We've not only kept that promise but put in an additional $71 million more this year with another $120 million boost next year.Christopher Luxon: Why did she claim that Radio New Zealand would collapse if it's not merged with TVNZ when Radio New Zealand is 100 percent funded by taxpayers?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: My reference was not only to the funding of TVNZ and RNZ but the general issue of listenership and viewership. We know that since 2014 for instance daily audience share for television has dropped from 83 percent to 56 percent. We know for radio it's dropped from 67 percent to 47 percent. This is a changing environment. Public service broadcasting is important to New Zealanders; no matter what we need to change the way that we are funding these services because particularly for TVNZ their revenue is declining.Christopher Luxon: Is she aware that Radio New Zealand's revenue has nothing to do with how many listeners it has?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: And nor are the reforms solely about revenue source. It's also about lifting and making sure that listeners are able to access public service broadcasting across multiple platforms. One of the concerns I have in this debate is this is actually one of the first times that the member's acknowledging that taxpayer money already goes into public service broadcasting. The issue is that without recognising that the environment they're in is changing we will keep having to increase the amount that goes in because revenue is declining for TVNZ. Things need to change. Christopher Luxon: What is her response to Stuff political editor Luke Malpass who said of the merger It has no clear rationale no clear plan and no obvious problem it is willing to fix." And to be honest isn't this merger just an ideological solution in search of a problem?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the business case has demonstrated which was produced by Deloitte change is required. Christopher Luxon: Why did broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson criticise a TVNZ journalist saying "I am very disappointed in you." and isn't she concerned that he made these threatening statements during an interview about editorial independence?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I refer the member to my answers earlier on in question time. The editorial independence is safeguarded in the legislation itself.Christopher Luxon: Does she have confidence in her Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson when he has been unable to explain why this merger is happening and clearly has no understanding of the concept of editorial independence?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes I do.Christopher Luxon: Why as Prime Minister is she continuing to support a Minister who is so grossly incompetent?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I totally disagree with the member's assertion. Christopher Luxon: What does it say about her leadership that she is willing to tolerate this level of incompetence from her Ministers?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I again reject the assertion by the member. The member for broadcasting has direct experience from working in the broadcasting industry. He knows all too well that the environment our broadcasters are operating is declining. The numbers of journalists in this country has halved. New Zealanders say misinformation is one of their biggest concerns; we have just seen in a pandemic how important it is that they were able to access information they trust and to access their own stories. The fact is taxpayers already fund public service broadcasting. We need to make sure that that money is well invested."