Auchinvole Chris: Communications Legislation Bill — In Committee 
Auchinvole Chris: Communications Legislation Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:634;Page:6031] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak to Part 2 of the Communications Legislation Bill. I will speak about the position advised by officials of imported Japanese cars that would interfere with radio frequency in addition to other aspects of the bill. 
The introduction of the possibility of allocated radio frequencies resulted in a number of submissions. Mr Donnelly is quite correct that the Radio Frequency Users Association of New Zealand referred in its submission to the land mobile radio band and I will be speaking to that point. It is not something that was ignored by the National Party members on the Commerce Committee. Some submitters though were concerned about the process to be used on the allocation of radio frequencies. I know that earlier speakers have already discussed this issue but I intend to canvass it again because I am not entirely sure that those who made submissions would be comfortable with what we have heard so far from the Minister. 
Why we have a Government controlling allocation other than by competitive tender is the question. We have already been asked whether this is simply a means by which the Crown can hike the costs whether it is a tax by stealth or whether it is an underhand way of charging further fees. The Minister has given us a peep of a letter which is now tabled and which he says is now in general circulation—well he did not quite say that but he said it was available—and I look forward to seeing that letter so that as a member of the select committee I can have some sense that all is being done as it should be. 
That did raise a concern about the allocation being conducted in a less than transparent manner. It is unfortunate that we are now receiving ministerial letters after select committee hearings. 
Craig Foss 
: Same old same old. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Same old same old. If the allocation is to be made on a basis other than competitive tender what will the criteria be? TelstraClear in its submission to the bill raised the same nervousness that has been commented on by those organisations referred to by my colleague Pansy Wong when it said that an allocation of radio licences by any means is a matter of concern to it. This is in section 116(1)(e) which is to be substituted by clause 30 of the bill. TelstraClear stated in its submission about the allocation of radio licences by any means: “TelstraClear opposes clauses 30 and 32 of the bill which provide that radio licences may be allocated by any means not just by competitive tender or auction. They would like to make it clear that they are talking about the allocation of spectrum for commercial purposes not areas like scientific research. The proposed amendment creates uncertainty over the allocation method and opens up the prospect of arbitrary and non-transparent allocation of radio licences.” This is exactly the nub of the question that is now being discussed. “Providing allocation by any means will result in a party seeking to obtain a radio licence not knowing what requirements must be met in order to obtain a radio licence. Allocation by competitive tender or auction promotes economic efficiency as these methods ensure that parties that place the greatest value on licences obtain them. Providing for allocation by any means opens up the possibility of allocation on a political basis favouring some parties at the expense of others.”—and we all know about that—“This would be particularly problematic for those parts of the spectrum that are used by the service providers for telecommunications. TelstraClear accepts that its part of the radio spectrum may only have a limited number of users or have characteristics that mean that a non-financial method of allocation is appropriate. However the Act should be clear about when these considerations should apply. TelstraClear submits that such considerations would not apply when there is competition for the spectrum when the spectrum has been determined to have a commercial purpose. In these circumstances spectrum should only be allocated by competitive tender or auction.” 
I could absorb the time of the Committee by speaking of other protestations and concerns expressed by submitters but basically the bill is small and technical. It was interesting to listen to the officials—and we did listen I say to Mr Donnelly—and to submitters. They went to great lengths to try to explain their very complex submissions and to make them more easily understandable and we certainly had a good understanding of the submissions. 
National of course supports the bill’s laudable aspects but we continue to have some concerns. One of them relates to Japanese imports which have a 76 to 90 megahertz frequency. They are incapable of reception above that so the majority of FM stations in New Zealand are excluded. This imposes some difficulties in terms of civil defence—and that was indicated by Mr Donnelly. In speaking to this issue the officials mentioned that they sought to provide a reassurance that broadcasts in civil defence emergencies would be available on National Radio AM. Being a West Coast resident I was able to advise them that we on the West Coast do not receive National Radio AM.