Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7514] 
7.  
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Broadcasting 
: Is the Government seeking a dividend from Television New Zealand Ltd this year and will it waive any requirement for a dividend to help Television New Zealand Ltd to fulfil its charter obligations for comprehensive impartial and in-depth news and current affairs? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 The Government expects some dividend from Television New Zealand this year. The board of Television New Zealand is currently considering its dividend policy and the likely level of dividend to be paid in the course of finalising its statement of intent for the 3 financial years beginning 1 July 2003. This will also cover how it intends to fulfil its charter obligations. I have not been advised of the board’s decision regarding this matter as yet. 
Sue Kedgley 
: How can Television New Zealand possibly deliver on its charter obligation to provide comprehensive and in-depth coverage of news and current affairs when it has just axed its flagship investigative programme  
Assignment 
 is sacking an estimated 14 current affairs staff and is cutting up to 10 percent of its news and current affairs budget; and is that the sort of quality programming the Minister expected when he introduced the charter? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Of course the issues raised by the member are issues for management and it has made that very clear. But what is also clear is that there is a charter and the organisation will be held accountable for its implementation. 
Mark Peck 
: How much funding is the Government providing to assist with the implementation of the charter and what are the accountability arrangements? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: We provided $12 million last year and $15 million this year increasing to $17 million by 2005-06—a total of $60 million over 4 years. The charter funding is monitored through a memorandum of understanding between TVNZ and the Minister. The expenditure is reported to the Minister on a quarterly basis and is also required to be reported in the company’s annual report. 
Katherine Rich 
: After 4 years why has the Government failed to implement Labour’s 1999 broadcasting policy which stated: “Labour believes priority for Television New Zealand should be on providing a quality service rather than providing a dividend to Government.” and “Labour will work towards allowing TVNZ to retain a greater proportion of potential dividends.”? After 4 years is this not a snail’s pace? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: It cannot be at a snail’s pace; it has all happened. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Can the Minister confirm that there is no pressure on TVNZ coming from the Government or the Broadcasting Commission board to make budget cuts to return a dividend; if so does he have any idea why management is seeking to make an extraordinary 10 percent cut in the current affairs and news budget at the very time when it is expecting to receive record advertising income topping $300 million and when it has just received a $12 million grant from the Government? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes I can reassure the House that there has been absolutely no political involvement in terms of decisions made here. They are as the organisation itself has said strictly management decisions. The member will know that television organisations go through phases where they change their programming. In this case TVNZ is looking at its news and current affairs. Yes it is doing extraordinarily well right now from its advertising revenue but I point out that not one dollar that goes to the organisation for its charter obligations goes into news and current affairs. In fact the agreement is that it should not and will not. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Can the Minister assure the House that the budget cuts that management is seeking to make in TVNZ are not driven in any way by the need to pay an estimated $20 million tax liability for TVNZ as a result of the Government’s decision to split off the transmission subsidiary BCL from TVNZ; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes I can give the member that absolute assurance.