Coleman Jonathan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Coleman Jonathan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:647;Page:16467] 
12.  
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
 to the  
Minister of Broadcasting 
: Why is he proposing to remove Television New Zealand’s control of funding under the Television New Zealand charter? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 Because I expect results so I expect added value from all of the funding. I want to ensure that the use of funding is appropriate and I want to see charter-supported programmes being aired at appropriate times. Charter funding is expressly for the airing of programmes that would otherwise not be shown commercially. If a company gets something in a competitive tender it would in any event be shown on free-to-air television so subsidising programmes from charter funding does not add value to the television that Kiwis get. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: How did the Minister let a situation arise where the charter money that Labour told us would deliver more non-commercial local public broadcasting content could be misused by Television New Zealand (TVNZ) to buy coverage rights to the Olympics; and how can the public have any confidence in a Minister who says that taxpayer money will be used for one thing but then it gets blown on another? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I had not indicated that. I was not party to the previous memorandum. 
Darien Fenton 
: What other funding decisions have already been made in the broadcasting portfolio recently? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I announced that Radio New Zealand will receive $10.9 million extra over 4 years in addition to its $29 million annual baseline funding to maintain its core services. Additional funding recognises the broadcaster’s significant and successful public service role domestically and internationally with its Internet service. This Labour-led Government continues to invest in the arts culture and heritage and broadcasting because they all contribute to the expression of the unique national identity of New Zealand even if Tories hate them. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I wonder whether the Minister can smoke out the answer to this question. Is TVNZ still funding Botox and other such beauty treatments for its on-screen staff and given the evident lack of success of such treatment will he assure us that TVNZ will not waste any more money attempting to perform miracles? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do not know any of the operational detail of Botox and its use but I understand that there is a member on the front bench of the National Party with whom he could consult about it. 
Hone Harawira 
: Kia ora Madam Speaker. What concrete plans does TVNZ have in place to consult with the wider Maori community on how best to reflect Maori interests in the proposed new TVNZ charter given the fact that no consultation was undertaken with the wider Maori community in the appointment of the kaihautu position no consultation was undertaken with the wider Maori community in the decision to move its premier Maori news programme to midnight and no consultation was undertaken with the wider Maori community in the decision to move  
Te Karere 
 to its current slot? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think the member is being slightly less than generous about the changes in the general Maori broadcasting area under this Government. I think there has been a significant and magnificent change. TVNZ does not always get it right but I remind the member because he clearly does not watch that the latest change has actually been a positive one. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: Why is it that despite the public having been promised more local content on TVNZ as a result of the charter the total number of hours of local content on TVNZ dropped by nearly 900 hours—from 5800 hours in the year before the charter to 4900 hours last year? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Total local content hours have increased to 10784. It is important that New Zealand children have access to quality New Zealand programmes and I am pleased that there has been a 52-hour increase for them. The point I want to make to members is that local programming is nearly double what it was in 1999 but at that point National was attempting to sell TVNZ. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: How is content screened by TVNZ different now compared with before the charter and how will it be different again after the latest charter review; and if the Minister cannot tell us that there is a real difference does he realise that that is the final confirmation that the centrepiece of this Government’s broadcasting policy has been a failure? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it is fair to say that since the charter there has been some improvement but not enough. After these changes I expect as a result of programme by programme approvals that it will continue to improve. And it should improve because $15 million is a significant investment. 
Hone Harawira 
: Has the Minister seen the comments in the  
New Zealand Herald  
article entitled “Haere ra to Maori funding?”—and I quote: “Maori programming has always been on the back-burner at TVNZ.”—and other criticisms describing the newly appointed kaihautu position and other Television New Zealand initiatives as being a “mudguard policy. It’s all shiny on the outside and crap underneath.”; and what confidence does such feedback give him that Television New Zealand actually understands its charter requirements to reflect Maori interests is able to meet those charter requirements or indeed even wants to? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: Which Minister is actually responsible for monitoring the performance of TVNZ against charter objectives; and does this Minister realise that the decision to remove control of charter funding from TVNZ goes to show that the responsible Ministers have not been holding TVNZ to its charter obligations for the past 5 years? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am; I am not satisfied that the company has acted satisfactorily and I have changed it. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: Has TVNZ previously been able to account fully for use of charter money in a way that meets the expectations of the Minister and his predecessors; if not what have successive Ministers done about it? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: My predecessor entered into a memorandum of understanding with TVNZ. I am not satisfied that that is tight enough.