Stewart Barbara: Television New Zealand Bill — In Committee 
Stewart Barbara: Television New Zealand Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:606;Page:3813] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 Part 4 is really important as it deals with Ministers and editorial independence. New Zealand First will not be supporting this part of the bill. There is a general public belief that the Government will manage the content of what we see on television. We just wonder whether television will now be all smoke and mirrors and we will not really know what we see. Will history dim our memories? 
In particular I want to look at clause 31(1)(b) which states that the shareholding Ministers may “determine the amount of dividend payable by TVNZG to the Crown in respect of any financial year or years.” We heard from previous speakers that Television New Zealand has a declining dividend. Of course this clause will impact directly on programmes. 
Members of New Zealand First like most people on this side of the Chamber believe that dividends should be invested back into the company. In particular we would like to see quality programmes that assist the educational scientific and cultural development of New Zealanders and I think we heard that phrase used last night. The bottom line is that the Government dividends impact directly on programme quality. If we have not got the money we will not get the quality programmes we want to see. Some of the programmes that were really educational which we like to see were for children. Suzy Kato’s programme that was on in the afternoon was a really worthwhile programme for children. I know that the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith talked last night about his quiz programmes. Perhaps we should have a more modern up-to-date version of that type of programme. His version may even be able to be retained. 
The bottom line is that those types of quality programmes are preferable by far to the violent cartoon-type programmes that are the diet of many of New Zealand’s children at the moment. They see programmes like that day after day. We appreciate that television violence is not the only source of aggressive and violent behaviour in children. However all the research appears to indicate that it is a significant contributor. 
This bill states that the Minister is to determine how much Television New Zealand will pay to the Crown. There is absolutely no requirement for a substantial dividend from Television New Zealand to be taken by the Government even though it could be used to make quality programmes if that is what Television New Zealand should be doing. 
I will also look at clause 34 which talks about compliance costs. With a charter as broad and as far-reaching as this one for Television New Zealand compliance costs will be large. The charter itself is philosophically cloudy which means measurement challenges. Measuring the outcome of the charter statements will be a really important factor in the overall success of this bill. Television New Zealand will need to develop some measurements so that issues of compliance can be resolved. I know that the Minister said there are already external agencies that do this for Television New Zealand but it is not sufficient to rely solely on an external agency for regular auditing of this particular charter. We all know that regular auditing will ensure that the result at the end of the year meets the requirements of this bill. 
Under this bill we expect that the compliance costs in the first few years of operation will be really high until effective measures are locked in place. As the Minister has pointed out there are already some measures in place so perhaps he will tell us that we will be getting more of the same. That is a real concern to New Zealand First because we know that the new structure will create a lot of opportunities for consultants and external agencies continually to audit Television New Zealand. There will also be many opportunities for interference by the Minister.