Coleman Jonathan: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Television New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18270] 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 I move  
That the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill amends the Television New Zealand Act 2003 in line with this Government’s wish to replace the current Television New Zealand charter with a less prescriptive list of functions and to leave Television New Zealand to concentrate on being a successful television broadcaster without the shackle of an unrealistic dual mandate. The other core purpose of the bill is to amend the Act to allow the rescreening of TVNZ’s archived pre-1989 television programmes and to provide a process for compensatory payments to individuals with an interest in the works when the archived programmes are rescreened. 
This bill provides a realistic framework within which TVNZ will operate. The reality is that for many many years TVNZ has been predominantly commercially funded. Well over 90 percent of its income is from commercial revenue and that was the case under the last Government. Indeed the Labour Government was in denial that it actually owned a commercial broadcaster. It tried to pretend that TVNZ could be all things to all people and that despite being commercially funded it was a public broadcaster rather than publicly owned. 
TVNZ has struggled to return a consistent dividend to the Government. This has been due in part to the uncertainty created by the Government’s long-term expectations of it. Removing the charter is being honest and not trying to pretend that TVNZ is something that it plainly is not. The real test is to look at what difference there is in TVNZ’s viewing schedule prior to the charter as compared with during it and the answer is that there is none. 
With the passing of this legislation TVNZ’s functions will be to be a successful national television and digital media company; to provide high-quality content that is relevant to and enjoyed and valued by New Zealand audiences; to provide both New Zealand and international content and reflect Maori perspectives; and to include the provision of free-to-air channels available to audiences throughout New Zealand. These at last provide TVNZ with a clear direction and formalise the Government’s expectations as shareholder. 
TVNZ will continue to provide broadcasting services to all New Zealanders and the public will continue to have access to local content on TVNZ including material with a Maori perspective. The removal of the charter will have little impact on what is shown on the screen. TVNZ will continue to screen events of major public significance it will still screen content of relevance to a broad cross-section of New Zealanders and it will still screen high levels of New Zealand content. At the same time TVNZ will have the flexibility it needs to effectively pursue commercial objectives and to continue its transition from a traditional broadcaster to a multi-platform digital media company with diverse income-streams and services. 
The proposed functions of the bill will still allow TVNZ to feature content of a public service character as part of its total output. This will be achieved by TVNZ continuing to have access to New Zealand On Air funding to ensure the delivery of high-quality New Zealand content which reflects the Government’s policy of providing support for public service broadcasting primarily through contestable funding via New Zealand On Air—funding programmes rather than broadcasters. 
In terms of the bill’s other functions Part 4A which is to be inserted in the Television New Zealand Act by clause 10 establishes a scheme for the rescreening of pre-1989 TVNZ archived works. TVNZ’s archive is a unique and valuable record of New Zealand’s historical social and cultural life and an important part of our screen heritage. It is in the public interest that the publicly funded programmes in the archive be available for future viewing. Currently a significant number of programmes are effectively locked up in the TVNZ archive unable to be screened because the multiple rights attached to the works would require clearance. The bill provides a means to resolve the issue of rights clearance. The scheme balances public-good objectives of making these works available for current and future generations to see with the rights of those who were contracted to work on the programmes. The existing arrangements between TVNZ and Maori Television for the provision of archived content will continue. The scheme applies only to those works for which TVNZ holds full copyright and not to those produced or co-produced by an independent producer. 
I note that Opposition parties have presented two minority views in the Commerce Committee’s report. The Labour view focuses solely on the removal of the charter and asserts that the local production industry will be disadvantaged by the removal of the specific requirement for TVNZ to support it. I remind the House that the charter had a negligible effect on TVNZ’s programming. In introducing the charter the previous Government did nothing about altering TVNZ’s commercial model or removing the obligation for it to deliver a dividend. 
It will be interesting to hear the Opposition members’ speeches in this debate. I expect to hear plenty of misinformation about the death of public broadcasting while they ignore the fact that the Government is spending $231 million per year on all forms of broadcasting. I am also sure we will hear no mention of the fact as the  
Listener  
magazine points out that New Zealand is the only country of 4 million people in the OECD that funds a public service radio network an indigenous television channel and an $81 million contestable fund for local programme making. For the Opposition the broadcasting glass is always half empty. 
We will hear from the Opposition members a repeat of the assertion that public broadcasting is in crisis. Labour’s answer according to its press release of 14 April is a call for “the nation’s top thinkers business leaders politicians academics and senior media industry figures to converge to discuss the future of public broadcasting and media in New Zealand.” I will leave the audience to decide whether the Opposition has any credible plan for broadcasting beyond constantly complaining. 
I note that the Green Party expressed concerns about the future of public service television and the health of the local production industry. However I am confident that the Government’s ongoing support for and commitment to New Zealand On Air’s contestable funding model and the bill will help to support these outcomes. The Green Party’s minority report expresses concerns that once the bill has passed TVNZ will own the archive and will be able to charge exorbitant fees for access to archived material. In fact TVNZ already owns the archive and outside the purposes of the scheme the bill has no effect on its charging for the use of archived material. 
The amendments proposed by the Commerce Committee have strengthened and clarified the bill. I am confident that the legislation will mark a new era for TVNZ. In a converging media environment TVNZ will have a flexible and realistic set of statutory functions to position it as a modern competitive broadcaster. The expectations of TVNZ are clarified and the unworkable vague mandate of the charter will be gone. The TVNZ archived works scheme will ensure that rights-holders will gain benefit from their work that the public will no longer be denied the opportunity to view works that are part of New Zealand’s cultural and broadcasting heritage and that further value will be gained from the public funding invested in the programmes. I commend the bill to the House.