Stewart Barbara: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Stewart Barbara: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4666] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First will not be supporting this bill. This bill is a backward step for broadcasting just like the Television New Zealand Bill which was recently passed. Radio New Zealand has not been able to provide a balanced service since the introduction of the charter so New Zealand First would like the Minister to explain to the House how writing down the words “spiritual and ethical” in a charter will reverse the disastrous ratings for Radio New Zealand. The charter appears to be of no real value to Radio New Zealand. Instead it has been totally counterproductive. The inclusion of the words “spiritual and ethical” is another example of the “Big Brother State” syndrome of knowing best. Those same words were written in the Television New Zealand Bill so we must have them in the Radio New Zealand Bill! 
This bill is just another example of State control. The State controls our life at work it controls our life at home and now it wants to control the life of our souls. It wants to control what is hidden in our heads and our hearts—our personal spiritual and ethical beliefs. How many variations of spiritual and ethical beliefs will we hear from Radio New Zealand? To be fair to the many cultures in New Zealand all people’s views must be met. But the reality is that our spiritual and ethical beliefs are so diverse that it will be an impossible challenge. It will not be possible for Radio New Zealand to meet the needs of all people. Is there no end to this Government’s almost fanatical desire to control our lives with a charter? 
Mark Peck 
: Ha ha! 
BARBARA STEWART 
: I know I am hitting home because I can see signs of opposition from Mark Peck. That usually means that we are on the right track. What have we seen? We have seen a revolt. People do not want to be told what they can listen to and they have voted with their feet. They have got up out of their chairs and they have turned off that politically correct radio station that they have been listening to. The bottom line is that they can change what they listen to when it does not meet their needs. Radio New Zealand and this politically correct Government cannot stop people from thinking their own thoughts. There are a lot of thinkers out there and they are thinking with their fingers on the radio dial: “Change the station!”. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: And change the Government. 
BARBARA STEWART 
: That would be another example. Like Katherine Rich has done we had a look at the ACNeilson survey. It shows that between 2001 and 2002 the number of National Radio listeners fell from 535000 to 502000. The Concert FM listenership declined by 15000 and the average time spent listening to that station dropped by just under 2 hours a week. That represents a significant number of listeners. It is a really appalling state of affairs to lose such a vast number of listeners. If that were a private radio station heads would roll. Indicators of audience loss of that magnitude would inspire some action on the part of the directors—but do we see any action? No there is nothing. What do we see? We see a key performance target that does not inspire the confidence of any thinking New Zealander. Radio New Zealand has a goal of losing no more than 10 percent of the previous year’s listeners. If it sticks with that type of target then its audience will dwindle away really really quickly. There will not be anybody listening to Radio New Zealand. 
The loss of listeners is the first indication that there is something very very wrong with the programmes that this radio station is playing. Even Radio New Zealand considers that the loss of listeners was due to the charter-directed programming changes. And what are we doing in this House? We are twiddling with it a little bit more all the time. What did we see in the  
New Zealand Herald  
on 21 March? Radio New Zealand was asking the Government for $2.5 million more in the May budget to avoid “cutting into the bone”. The article states too that the State broadcaster now gets $22.3 million from the Government. The article also states that the chairman of Radio New Zealand said that the request was realistic and conservative although $3.5 million would be needed to return Radio New Zealand to its pre-1995 level of support. So what do we have? We have here a Government radio station in bad shape. It is coming to the Government for money so that it is not forced to cut into the bone. What does that leave the way open for? I can tell members right here in this House. It leaves the way open for more State interference in broadcasting—total control of what we hear and think and even control of our spiritual and ethical souls. That is not a good state of affairs. It is a really sad state of affairs too if we have to listen to the radio for our spiritual and ethical beliefs. That is not good enough. We are always reading about Radio New Zealand and the problems it is having with staff morale—some of them directly due to this charter. No amount of money will make any difference to the situation within Radio New Zealand. We have solid proof that the changes to Radio New Zealand are not working since the introduction of the charter and New Zealand First will not be supporting this bill.