Hughes Gareth: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9028. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green): I do not think you can call for a third umpire Mr Faafoi though it probably would be useful to have a third umpire sometimes in this Chamber. Mr Chair kia ora ngā mihi nui ki a koutou kia ora. I rise to support this bill the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill.I have been reflecting since the original review this legislation comes from all the way back in 2006 on what changes we have seen at Radio New Zealand. The first one of course is that it is not called Radio New Zealand. It is now “RNZ”. We have seen some innovative new online content platforms such as The Wireless. Of course we have lost old Geoff and Sean on Morning Report but we have gained a Guyon and a Susie. We have seen a new Checkpoint streaming live to the internet and interviews being now conducted by Skype not just in the Auckland or Wellington or Dunedin studios. Despite all those changes since the Radio New Zealand review way back in 2006 one thing is the same and that is the bird every morning on Morning Report which is fantastic to see.This is entirely a non-controversial bill. The subject matter at its heart is incredibly important and that is public broadcasting. It is something that the Green Party on this side of the Chamber—judging by the speeches I have heard in the Chamber tonight previously from Kris Faafoi Clare Curran and Tracey Martin—takes incredibly seriously. It is important to our culture to our citizenship and to our democracy so the Green Party supports public broadcasting.The changes to the charter are not bringing great change; you could say they are modernising. But I would like to touch on a point which is the speed and the urgency with which the Government has moved this legislation through the House. As I have referred to the review was in 2006 and legislation was not introduced until 2009 and here we are 10 years after the 5-yearly review and we are finally getting around to the Committee stage. We are not even at the third reading.My question to the Government and to the Minister of Broadcasting is: is the speed and haste with which the Government is addressing this legislation symptomatic of the Government’s view towards public broadcasting? If you are taking it seriously why have you acted so slowly? If you take it seriously why has there been a funding freeze for 6 years? If you are taking it so seriously why do you not listen to the KPMG report that said we had seen a funding cut requiring an additional $6.7 million just for Radio New Zealand to stay where it is and what we have seen is a funding cut in real terms of more than 9 percent?You have to ask whether the Government takes public broadcasting seriously when we see channels like TVNZ 7 being cut. This side of Chamber takes public broadcasting seriously and my challenge to the Government is that if it takes it seriously let us move with some haste. Let us put some adequate funding in so the excellent work that happens at Radio New Zealand including Radio New Zealand Concert etc. can continue and thrive in 2016.I would like to make a couple of quick points on the amendments. I would like to acknowledge and thank the member Clare Curran for her constructive clarification amendments. The Green Party will be supporting the Government’s amendments. They in fact relate to my substantive point which is regarding the slow lethargy in which the Government has approached passing this legislation.One of the main amendments in the Government’s Supplementary Order Paper 94 inserts new section 8AB which deals with providing media services outside New Zealand on for example paid content services stating that as long as the services are still in a commercial-free manner they can be then subsequently replayed broadcast or onsold to what are essentially commercial stations. We support that.Why I say it is symptomatic of the lethargy—the point is that the Government has had to play catch up. The world is changing. We are seeing it with the content review currently being undertaken by Minister Adams. The Government is trying to play catch up with the new technologies the new types of services and the new role that Radio New Zealand is expected to play in 2016. The Green Party will be supporting the amendment because it is pretty common-sense. The amendment to clause 2 of course has to change the commencement date. The Government has taken so long to get this bill in front of the Committee that it has had to go amend the commencement date because of course it has expired. The Green Party supports this common-sense law.The Green Party supports the common-sense Supplementary Order Papers but the important point for the Green Party is that we will prioritise public broadcasting. We believe it is the bedrock the foundation of our democracy of New Zealanders’ right to access information to hear our stories to see our culture in all the various forms on air and online.As a last quick point I would also like to acknowledge—I will be very brief because my last point is around acknowledging the recent Māori radio networks’ call and analysis of Māori content on Radio New Zealand. When you look at the data—this is only over a small time period—it is incredibly small so I believe that is a challenge to Radio New Zealand to make sure that all New Zealanders and all cultures’ voices are reflected in particular the first people of New Zealand tangata whenua. I hope Radio New Zealand can take those lessons and that analysis on board. Kia ora.