Katene Rahui: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Katene Rahui: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18280] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Just over 2 years ago my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell took the opportunity in question time to ask the Minister of Broadcasting how he could best ensure that the participation of Maori can be clearly identified and the presence of a significant Maori voice can be heard. I thought that was a really good question and one that many Maori viewers were thinking about in the aftermath of that embarrassing admission of the TVNZ boss that TVNZ was meetings its commitments to Maori in programmes such as  
Police Ten 7 
 and  
Shortland Street 
. In his reply Dr Coleman responded that the statutory function of reflecting Maori perspectives will be included in the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill. He went further suggesting that TVNZ has a specific Maori content strategy and its commitment to Maori programming will not change. He also said that New Zealand On Air has a specific strategy for Maori programming. Finally he noted that the Government is of course a supporter of Maori Television. 
That all sounded well and good so in November last year I myself asked the Minister at question time: “Would he like to celebrate the fulfilment of the Crown’s Treaty and legal obligations to protect and promote Maori language through broadcasting and is weakening the TVNZ charter the best way to achieve that?”. Dr Coleman obviously thought it was OK to do so. I asked him whether he was “aware that there are statutory and legal obligations on TVNZ as a result of the Privy Council’s findings in the New Zealand Maori Council broadcasting case in 1993 and what is he doing to implement those obligations?”. Dr Coleman obviously misunderstood my question and tried to say that New Zealand On Air and Te Mangai Paho carry out those functions. I wanted to know what TVNZ was doing so I was allowed to repeat the question. Dr Coleman said “Yes and they are being honoured through the new statutory functions for TVNZ.” In fact if we look at this amendment bill we find that they are not. 
Many other speakers here have noted that very few material changes were recommended following the select committee process. If we look at just one aspect of the bill the archived works we might think that that was acceptable. The changes recommended specify that the definition of “archived work” should be changed to make it clear that it would apply only to works made on or before 27 May 1989 for which TVNZ owns the whole copyright. It also recommended that archived works must be screened free to the viewer but between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. on any day of the week on Television One and TV2 or be “subject to a licence that is sold for profit by TVNZ to screen on any other platform …”. It therefore ensures that TVNZ cannot use the works for profit only. 
When we looked through the submissions it was evident that the changes around archived works were generally supported. But a couple of provisos stood out for us. In the submission from Maori Television it was noted that it was supportive of the objective of the bill to allow material within the TVNZ archive to be seen again but there was concern noted around the tentative nature of some of the wording proposed. As a case in point new section 29C1 in clause 10 states: “Provided that TVNZ complies with the requirements of this Part it may— … (b) grant the Maori Television Service the right to screen an archived work under any arrangement agreed between that service and TVNZ:”. The use of the words “may grant” suggests that TVNZ would no longer have an obligation to provide access to Maori Television only an option to do so at its discretion. 
Maori Television challenged this as contrary to the Crown undertakings made to the court in 1991 as reflected by the 1991 Crown-TVNZ Agreement. In the arguments it put forward it stated that news and current affairs programmes and others of an historical or review nature make up a significant proportion of the programmes broadcast by Maori Television and any restriction on Maori Television’s access to the archival material in the TVNZ archive could have a significant negative impact on Maori Television’s ability to produce and the quality of new programmes. It would also potentially be anti-competitive meaning only TVNZ can use such archived material for the production of new programmes. 
These concerns become even more disturbing when we look through the entirety of the bill and note as the Human Rights Commission stated explicitly the stark references to Maori in the bill itself. In the view of the Human Rights Commission the removal of the charter from the Act leaves a gap in that it is not explicitly and specifically set out that it is the responsibility of a public broadcaster to reflect the biculturalism of the New Zealand State and the diversity of New Zealand society. So I want at this point to refresh our collective memory about exactly what the TVNZ charter says about Maori. Its charter says that TVNZ shall “provide shared experiences that contribute to a sense of citizenship and national identity” and “ensure in its programmes and programme planning the participation of Maori and the presence of a significant Maori voice”. It goes even further than broad statements of principle to state that in fulfilment of those objectives TVNZ will “feature programmes that serve the interests and informational needs of Maori audiences including programmes promoting the Maori language and programmes addressing Maori history culture and current issues”. 
I would like the House to compare the detail and the specificity of those provisions with the bare-bones statement in new section 12(2) in clause 6 namely that “In carrying out its functions TVNZ must provide high-quality content that— … (b) encompasses both New Zealand and international content and reflects Maori perspectives.” There is a world of difference between “the participation of Maori and the presence of a significant Maori voice” and “[reflecting] Maori perspectives”. As the Human Rights Commission spells out in its submission a mere gesture towards Maori perspectives goes nowhere towards ensuring the genuine representation of Maori at all levels of television programming. 
I cannot help but contrast this bill with the amazing precedent that has occurred today with the ground-breaking initiative in establishing a Maori working group to help steer the roll-out of the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative. Nga Pu Waea grew out of a submission by the Maori Economic Taskforce on the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative. It is about taking every opportunity to strengthen Maori participation in developing this nation. The working group is designed to ensure that Maori can maximise opportunities for economic development and that Maori views are represented as the initiative progresses. The working group representing a range of Maori working in the information and communications industry sector and iwi and economic leaders will work with Vodafone Telecom and the Government to ensure that Maori communities do not miss out on the promise of the digital age. I want to commend Minister Joyce for working so well with the Maori Party—for honouring the relationship that we have entered into in order to ensure that the influence and the integrity of the Maori voice is heard in all its many dimensions. If we had one message for Dr Coleman it would be to look to the leadership offered by this announcement today—and by his colleagues—in affirming the responsibilities of TVNZ to meet its obligations to Maori. 
We leave this debate with these points. The Maori Party can see no benefit to Maori in stripping away the substance of the charter and effectively leaving TVNZ to run its own ship. We are also concerned about the tentative nature of some of the wording and the very scant reference to Maori in the bill. We hope that Nga Pu Waea becomes a significant benchmark for enhancing the quality of this bill and we place on record our absolute commitment to working with the Government to ensure once again the participation of Maori and the presence of a significant Maori voice in TVNZ programmes and programme planning. Kia ora.