Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18275] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is an honour to stand and support the second reading of the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill. It is an honour because this monumental legislation is all about repealing a charter that is not working and freeing up Television New Zealand to avoid a dual mandate—the disparate sorts of cross-purposes that currently it is focused on. 
National is committed to public broadcasting. It is committed through the $231 million that is invested in public broadcasting across not just television but radio and other forms of media. It is committed to television through New Zealand On Air funding. There is over $80 million of New Zealand On Air funding which allows television programmes to be made across a number of channels. It is also committed to public broadcasting in the television space through the Platinum Television Fund from which $15 million per year is available for bidding by local production companies and various providers of content. This bill is about wanting the best for New Zealand viewers and wanting the best for Television New Zealand: for it to be a successful commercial broadcaster operating across the various media. 
There are two basic purposes to this statute. The previous speaker Clare Curran talked about the focus on more generic statutory requirements yet she did not mention once what those statutory requirements were. Instead she questioned the Minister as to what National was doing. But I put it back to the Opposition. I put it back to Labour which spent 9 years in Government and I ask how Labour would fund its ambitions for public broadcasting. How in this economic climate during this global economic recession would Labour fund the types of broadcasting platforms that it has been advocating for? That type of funding does not grow on trees. 
This bill also enables the screening of pre-1989 Television New Zealand archived works. It is really important that a lot of those works are released for public consumption and that they are seen. Thankfully most parties around the Commerce Committee table actually agreed that those works should be released that the relevant rights-owners should be compensated in some form and that rescreenings should at least be free for those programmes to be released for publication. 
I just mention briefly new section 12 amending the Television New Zealand Act. It provides for Television New Zealand to be a successful national television and digital media company providing a choice of different platforms and maintaining a commercial performance. As I said the dual mandate has not worked. Most people would accept that. It has not worked because on the one hand Television New Zealand is trying to satisfy the requirements of the charter and on the other hand it is competing with a number of other media companies not just in television but now across a number of other media platforms. It is competing on a commercial basis and it needs to compete with high-quality content. The other function that is stipulated in section 12 is that Television New Zealand provides high-quality content that is relevant to and enjoyed and valued by New Zealand audiences. We can see from that stipulation that there could be a conflict with the charter in that section 12 is about providing content that consumers are prepared to watch and content that advertisers are prepared to pay valuable advertising dollars to support being put on the screens. It is also about encompassing New Zealand and international content and reflecting Maori perspectives which I think in the select committee we all agreed with. 
As we can see section 12 is quite narrow. It allows for Television New Zealand to focus on its commercial purpose. 
Also the previous speaker from across the aisle stated that public broadcasting is not effective. Television New Zealand is the winner of numbers of awards not just for news content and sport but also for the content that it produces on a daily basis. The Platinum Television Fund as I have already stated has been put in place in order to attract programmes that will deliver high-quality content. They include of course current affairs shows like  
Q+A 
 
and 
 Billy 
 a docudrama detailing the life of one of our best comedians Billy T James as well as other documentary series like  
Wild Coasts 
. Through that contestable fund producers are able to get funding for the production of local content of a high quality that—and this is important—local people want to watch. 
I support this bill. The Government has put forward this bill in order to move Television New Zealand into the next century. It is a move in terms of the digitalisation of TV and we await that with great zeal. This bill certainly facilitates the movement of Television New Zealand into the future. I support this bill. Thank you.