Faafoi Kris: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFaafoi Kris: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9031. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana): Thank you very much Mr Chair for allowing me another opportunity to speak to the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill. I would like to pick up where my colleague Grant Robertson left off and that is around the democratic function of good journalism. And I will come to the charter—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Chester Borrows): We are not going to get repetitive are we?KRIS FAAFOI—which is within the bill to be able to extrapolate those points a little bit later on in my speech.I would also like to point out that although technology is changing the way that information is being disseminated—we talk about different platforms we talk about convergence online streaming; all these different ways of getting the information that we used to get through radios—something has to remain constant in order for us to keep listening and that is some pretty important principles that are at the very heart of public broadcasting. That is around quality independence integrity and reach and other qualities like that which—regardless of the medium by which we are receiving the information—have to stay true. That is what we are worried about on this side of the House when we are talking about freezing of funding.I would like to put those in the context of journalism and also what is within this bill around the charter. Clause 8 goes into some detail on what is expected of Radio New Zealand around the charter. Clause 8(1) says that Radio New Zealand must be an independent public service broadcaster and the purpose is to serve the public interest. Clause 8(4) says: “The public radio company provides reliable independent and freely accessible news and information.” Subclauses (5)(a) and (b) say that the services must be predominantly and distinctly of New Zealand nature and they must inform and enlighten the people of New Zealand. Paragraphs (h) and (i) of subclause (5) say that this content should “provide awareness of the world and of New Zealand’s place in it:” and “provide comprehensive independent accurate impartial and balanced regional national and international news and current affairs:”. So Radio New Zealand because it is legislated to do this plays a very important function in the fourth estate.I think that over the last year there have been some worrying signs about the nature of journalism and the fourth estate. We have seen the demise of the current affairs programme 3D Investigates at TV3 we have seen the demise of Campbell Live at TV3 and we have also seen the demise on both major channels around that 7 p.m. slot—what used to be Close Up and Holmes back in the day has now become Seven Sharp. I will let people make up their own minds on that.But there is an important function within this legislation that says that Radio New Zealand has to hold some pretty important principles of journalism up higher than other broadcasters or news media companies have to. I would actually like to praise Radio New Zealand for its efforts to be able to do that under the current freeze in budget that it has had. It has had challenges around having to deliver on different kinds of platforms but I think it has done a pretty good job of keeping the integrity keeping balance and keeping impartiality—all those qualities that the charter within this bill requires of Radio New Zealand—under extremely difficult circumstances. I think it also means there is a greater importance placed on Radio New Zealand around journalism and also—another debate that might need to start in New Zealand—that there should be funding for other news media organisations to make sure that these kinds of principles around journalism are upheld in other areas too. That is another debate around NZ On Air.But I would like to make sure that these principles around the integrity of journalism are upheld as best as they can be by Radio New Zealand and that can only be done if a Government takes that entity seriously. I think—with this bill languishing on the Order Paper for well over 7 or 8 years—that the funding freeze that numerous speakers have spoken to on this side of the Chamber and the fact that in other areas of public broadcasting this Government has shown no taste at all for wanting to continue anything that holds people like us to account is not good for our democracy. I want to as a former journalist make sure that everyone in this House is held to account properly and I think as a bastion of all those principles as laid out in this legislation Radio New Zealand is legislated to do that properly.But if we are going to put this in legislation let us back up these words in this legislation with some commitment from the Government that it is going to help Radio New Zealand achieve that. If we do not then all the words that are in this legislation are merely words. The ability of Radio New Zealand—a very important broadcasting entity—will not be that it can deliver on what we ask it to do. I praise it because I think it is doing a good job within its constraints. We are again asking it to have a very important function in our democracy: to hold people like us in this House to account. If we do not give it the means to do that then I think that is not a good sign for democracy in this country.Clause 1 agreed to.The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 94 in the name of the Hon Amy Adams to clause 2 be agreed to.Amendment agreed to.Clause 2 as amended agreed to.Clause 3 agreed to.