Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to start my contribution in the closing of this bill by acknowledging the contribution of my colleagues on the examination of what I consider a vital piece of legislation for the future of broadcasting funding transparency. I want to say how deeply saddened I am to see yet again this Government who chose to actually announce themselves as the most open and transparent in history has closed ranks to deny that openness and that transparency that they promised—that access to information on the performance of publicly funded media by deciding not to support the bill. Earlier Jenny Marcroft talked about the convergence and I acknowledge her knowledge of the mediascape and how there is actually huge convergence and disruptors out there. I would have thought that that member at least would have understood that having decent data and decent transparency and openness would perhaps help in the actual funding and that more programmes could actually be funded. I am particularly troubled by the decision by the Green Party who—despite their broadcasting spokesperson having given me repeated personal assurances that they would support the bill—sent me a very late-night email just before the first reading began last December and said that after having said they would support it they couldn't support it any more. That was because they had had a conversation with the Minister and that's the reason why they couldn't actually support the bill. For a party that once prided itself on making our Government and public services more open this in fact is the new low. I respect my friend Gareth Hughes across the House. He has been a wonderful friend in select committees and I respect his views. But you know to tell it how it is it was in fact at the direction of the Minister and that is the only reason why the Green Party will not support this bill to select committee. You know for the past two years our country has had to deal with every form of shady deal—clandestine meetings and constitutional outrages at a volume that would make most Third World nations blush—so it is truly disappointing when the Minister of broadcasting is actually having secret meetings with the head of news and content at Radio New Zealand. I mean come on—this is a real low. When members of a Government who are in coalition or in confidence and supply are not able to support it because the Minister has actually put his foot down I think it's a real shame. I truly believe that transparency in this area is required and for those people who do not understand the process for members' bills often members' bills are put into the ballot many years before they have their first readings. This bill was put in the ballot well before Mr McAnulty's presence in this Parliament and luckily it was actually drawn and we had the beginning of its first reading last year. In terms of transparency one of the members—I think it was Mr McAnulty—talked about my former role as a producer of a television programme called Asia Downunder. Yes it did actually get funding from New Zealand On Air and one of the problems that we had was that because we were a small production company we could not get Nielsen ratings when we requested TVNZ and New Zealand On Air to provide the ratings so that we knew exactly how many people were tuning in because this data can be very helpful for producers. It was very difficult to get our hands on it. I've also had emails from independent producers—much smaller ones—who do in fact struggle to know the data. Knowing the data of viewership helps producers. This is not just about transparency of numbers to see what New Zealand On Air is actually funding where the funding is going and how many people are viewing but it also helps the producers to make decisions about their content. I think they're missing out on an opportunity and I believe that sharing stories and ideas of our history—today marks the continuation of the struggle of those creators and producers because this Government cannot decide to be transparent. It is a real shame that members of the Government in this House across on that side cannot support this bill to select committee. It is a real shame.