Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and  State Enterprises — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and  State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:638;Page:8800] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 There is more bad news. This 2005-06 financial review is more bad news for this beleaguered sorry Minister whose broadcasting policy is completely in tatters along with his career. On the second to last day of the last sitting Minister Maharey the self-styled future Labour Party leader and future Prime Minister of New Zealand made a career-ending blunder from the front bench over there. We are not hearing anything from his colleagues because quite frankly they were quite happy about that. The Labour right over there including Mr Cosgrove and the man who lost the seat of Tukituki were quite secretly delighted. Mr Mallard the Minister for State Owned Enterprises was taking a bit of relish in the situation as well because he knows that has moved him in his own mind one place further up the rankings. This is the end for Mr Maharey. It must have been absolutely devastating for him. If members think the language was blue here in the Chamber they can imagine what it was like when he went back to his office—the hair tearing; the head in the hands. The career was over; it was all gone.  
But that would have been nothing compared with the language coming down from the ninth floor as “H2” and “H1” got on the phone and told Maharey he had blown it— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member will use the Minister’s— 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Minister Maharey— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member must be seated while I am on my feet. The member will use the Minister’s correct name and his title not a nickname. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: “H1” and “H2”— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No the member will use the names. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: I am sorry. The Prime Minister Helen Clark and her sidekick Heather Simpson would have been ringing down from the ninth floor saying to Steven Maharey Minister of Broadcasting that he had blown his future in the Labour Party.  
I can imagine the emails pouring in by the thousands to Mr Maharey telling him exactly what the public thought of the Minister of Broadcasting and the Minister of Education totally losing his rag in the House. It was absolutely disgraceful. We were hoping that maybe he might front up the next day to take his punishment to take his medicine but no. Where did he go? Well we do not know but he certainly was not here in the Chamber.  
We can talk about Mr Maharey and the end of his career all that we like but the reality is as the academics have said that Mr Maharey’s broadcasting policy is in tatters. The reality when we are talking about Television New Zealand (TVNZ) is that the executives there are playing with the cards that Mr Maharey has dealt them. They are doing the best they can do. It is the Government broadcasting policy that has got TVNZ into the situation it is in. Mr Maharey was very very keen on the TVNZ charter and he is very very keen to use TVNZ as a cash cow. So he is putting stringent demands on it at the top end and then he is pulling the cash out at the bottom. Last year TVNZ had to pay an extraordinary dividend of $70 million and it had to go into debt by $60 million in order to pay that. All the Minister can say when he is asked about that on Radio New Zealand is that that is the business model and it is good for businesses to carry debt. Well it needs a bit more of a sophisticated explanation than that.  
Frankly what is this Minister’s charter delivering? It is delivering the destruction of 160 jobs. It is delivering the end of current affairs analysis in New Zealand. I put it to the Minister—and maybe he will get up and explain this—that if he has deteriorating advertising revenues at TVNZ and if he has a charter that asks TVNZ to produce a certain type of content but he also has commercial impositions that he is placing on it something has to give. What will give is the quality of broadcasting. We went through that in 2001 with project regeneration under Marian Hobbs over there. That was meant to be the new dawn. Everything was meant to be great and charter television was going to deliver. Mr Maharey said he was looking forward to seeing an improved standard and a greater quality in broadcasting under the charter. And what has he delivered? One hundred and sixty job cuts.  
But it is even worse than that. The Government is trying to launch 24-hour television—a 24-hour news channel. I would be very interested if the Minister takes a call—which I hope he will do—to see whether he can get up and explain to me how when he has cut $10 million from the news budget and cut 160 jobs he will deliver on a 24-hour news channel. How will TVNZ be able to pull the Television One ratings back up? The reality is that the people at TVNZ are doing the best they can do but this Minister has got them by the proverbials and they have nowhere left to go. The Minister has totally lost his grasp on policy. If we look at digital television we see that he said it would cost $300 to get a set top box. It will cost double that. It is clear that the policy is in tatters and the Minister needs to explain that situation.