Rich Katherine: Television New Zealand Bill — In Committee 
Rich Katherine: Television New Zealand Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:606;Page:3809] 
KATHERINE RICH (NZ National) 
: 
 This is a quite important part because it deals with the issues of Ministers and editorial independence. If there was one part of the Government’s plan that really upset Television New Zealand and many in the broadcasting industry it was the feeling they had that part of this bill was designed to interfere with the nation’s broadcaster. There is a feeling that this bill is just a cunning plan to ensure that Ministers and the Prime Minister can have greater involvement in programming greater involvement in the way they are depicted on television and greater involvement in determining what New Zealanders watch on screen. 
Interestingly the sponsors of the bill are people who have said they do not watch much television. Marian Hobbs stood in this Chamber and said that she is not a person who watches much television. It is the same with Dr Michael Cullen and I suspect it is the same with Helen Clark. It is ironic that a bill determining what the rest of New Zealand should watch on television has come from people who do not really enjoy it as a medium. 
With regard to the whole issue of editorial independence I would like to spend a moment going back to the statement of corporate intent which was distributed to our offices today. I would like to read from a section in that statement of corporate intent that is headed “Editorial independence”: “The company’s editorial protocol places obligations on the board and management. While this protocol’s primary focus is news current affairs and information programmes its provisions extend to all editorial content produced or transmitted by TVNZ. It is intended each year that TVNZ’s chief executive and head of news and current affairs will provide a certificate to the company’s board of directors that in their view the company has during the previous year complied with the protocol. It will be their responsibility to obtain similar certificates from other company executives as they consider appropriate to enable them to provide such a certificate.” 
So staff are going to be bullied into endorsing this idea that they are not heavied in any way when it comes to the stories they put on screen. One of the questions I have for the Minister is whether he thinks Paul Cutler would ever have signed such a certificate putting his name to a piece of paper that suggested that TVNZ had maintained its editorial independence. I suspect not. Would Heaton Dyer have put his name to such a certificate indicating that TVNZ had maintained its editorial independence? I think not. Both those gentlemen know the grim reality of working within TVNZ at the moment. We all know the stories about the interference by the chairman when it came to talking about news stories that are appropriate on television. He openly discussed the sorts of programmes that he would personally like to see on air. We have all heard the stories about the development of the  
Late Edition 
 concept and how there was interference there. We have all heard the stories about the Prime Minister’s staff making calls to the TVNZ newsroom to discuss issues on the news and to discuss certain complaints. 
That makes this part of the bill an absolute joke. Ministers will be ensuring that they have greater involvement in television than ever before. Editorial independence is something we hold very dear in this country. This part of the bill does nothing to put aside the concerns of National. That is why we are going to put some significant amendments. 
Certainly when I look at the whole issue of “corngate’ and the coverage that it received I suspect that TVNZ would never have run a story of that nature. I suspect it would never have had the courage to interview the Prime Minister in that way. That is because of concerns that I think are embodied in this part; concerns that if TVNZ steps out of line its funding is going to be at issue now that it has to go cap in hand to the Government.