Maharey Steve: Television New Zealand Bill — Third Reading 
Maharey Steve: Television New Zealand Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:606;Page:3866] 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 I move  
That the Television New Zealand Bill be now read a third time 
. This legislation demonstrates the Government’s commitment to quality public broadcasting and its awareness of the key role of public television. The primary value of these broadcasters lies in their contribution to the social and cultural wealth of our nation. This bill is a response not only to the legitimate demands of television-watching citizens but also to the broader expectations of those who recognise the cultural and social importance of television. The bill provides legislative guidance for the operation of TVNZ that is in keeping with the State television broadcaster’s central role. It provides for structural change. That change will support the organisation’s ability to effectively fulfil its new role as a broadcaster but it will also enable TVNZ to maintain a commercial focus in other broadcasting activities. Television New Zealand currently operates as a State-owned enterprise and as such it must put commercial returns above cultural or social imperatives. The Government has maintained the view that the form and structure of Television New Zealand must be changed if it is to be in a position to deliver on the charter that will guide its operation.  
The process of making this change and the decisions about the details of its nature were complicated by the mixture of activities undertaken by the organisation. When we first considered Television New Zealand’s structure it was recognised that the question of whether the transmission business should be separated from the television business was finely balanced. The main argument against separation was the transaction costs associated with making the split. The main arguments in favour of the separation were to do with increased transparency accountability and the need for the two arms to focus on their core business. Cabinet took a decision 20 months ago to defer consideration of a split for 2 years. We have now been able to reconsider that separation in time to incorporate its implementation in this bill effecting what I personally believe is a sensible and an efficient process of change and a sensible and an efficient structural outcome.  
We can see no compelling reason to operate two businesses of different natures and with different objectives in the same company structure. There is to be no overarching TVNZ group overseeing the operations of both TVNZ and the transmission-focused entity primarily BCL. Rather there will be a formal separation of those aspects of Television New Zealand a separation that given the organisation’s current structure will be able to be achieved in a relatively straightforward way. TVNZ’s transmission business is to be established as a State-owned enterprise and its television business will be set up as a Crown-owned company. A decision not to separate the businesses would have meant that the TVNZ group would have been inclined to extract revenues from BCL to fund the television business at BCL’s expense. That might not have been in the best interests of BCL. Nor do I believe it would have been in the best interests of the television business itself.  
Those who argue that BCL should be retained in the ownership of TVNZ appear to be influenced primarily by the effect on TVNZ of the loss of revenue it would suffer as a result of the separation. Clearly there will be a loss of income to TVNZ if it can no longer extract dividends from BCL but it will be far more beneficial to have ownership arrangements that maximise BCL’s commercial opportunities and for the Government to consider how and to what extent TVNZ should be compensated in order to fulfil its charter. We consider that such funding decisions are more appropriately made by the Government than by TVNZ’s directors.  
I would add given the desire for a change in TVNZ’s focus as a public broadcaster that it is questionable what benefits might have been derived from distracting members of the board and management of TVNZ on to matters associated with BCL’s operations and development as would have occurred under the previous structure. Since the original Cabinet decision the shareholding Ministers have approved BCL’s strategy of expanding its telecommunications operations. That will require a substantial investment and considerable attention from the board. A different mix of skills is needed for the governance of each business and that can be best achieved by separating the companies.  
Under this legislation the board of TVNZ will therefore be in a position to focus on its primary objective of implementing the charter while of course maintaining commercial performance. I consider that the achievement of this objective will be significant in the cultural and social life of New Zealanders and of New Zealand. The development of the charter is consistent with this Government’s policies of supporting New Zealand culture and emphasising the importance of a skilled and an educated society. The charter has been developed in the context of cultural recovery. It is informed by our confidence in the cultural distinction and the abilities and aspirations of New Zealanders. Its implementation will mean that the television broadcaster owned by the people of New Zealand will play an enhanced role in supporting the needs of an informed nation. Public broadcasting should clearly provide for the interests of all its audiences not just the audience preferred by advertisers. New Zealand viewers are not simply consumers and the charter makes explicit their entitlement to quality television programming across all content and in relation to both channels that has previously not been available.  
There are those who purport to detect in the charter an attempt by the Government to direct what New Zealanders can watch even as their colleagues make accusations about it being vague or having no real meaning. The TVNZ charter is not vague and meaningless. Neither is it a sinister piece of social engineering. Like the charters of other leading broadcasters around the world and like the Radio New Zealand charter introduced by the previous National Government—but members may remember largely written by me—on which it is partly modelled it is broad and indicative not prescriptive. Without dictating programmes it ensures that we will have a full range of interests provided for. Rather than denying choice it seeks to create the kind of choice that the market alone is incapable of creating.  
In my role as Minister I have no greater ability to direct the content of TVNZ programming that I or my predecessors or the Government in general have had in the past. The bill in fact reinforces the importance of editorial integrity. It does not intrude on independence. It does however set up the Government’s expectation that TVNZ will establish meaningful performance measures and report regularly to the Government. The process of developing those measures is already under way and I know that TVNZ is looking at the best practice of public broadcasters elsewhere. I acknowledge TVNZ’s willingness to do that.  
The bill will also I believe establish TVNZ in a leadership role within the broadcasting sector a role that as the State television broadcaster it is most appropriate that it should play. Amendments to the legislation have underlined that status and I look forward to seeing quality and innovation being the hallmarks of the organisation.  
In conclusion I thank United Future for supporting the separation of the television and transmission businesses within TVNZ and I acknowledge the role played by the Greens in amending the charter particularly in the area of screen violence. As the Minister of Broadcasting as a participant in New Zealand society and as a viewer of public television I look forward to seeing the public television broadcaster flourish as a Crown-owned entity no longer restricted to pursuing purely commercial objectives. I look forward to its response to the direction provided by the charter and to the cultural and social benefits that will result. As a final comment I thank the Hon Marian Hobbs the former Minister of Broadcasting who worked very hard on this bill. It is a pleasure to deliver it and I acknowledge the hard work that she did in the first place.