Hudson Brett: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHudson Brett: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 19 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3434. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRETT HUDSON (National): It is a great pleasure to rise and speak on the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill. I would like to commend the previous National speaker Melissa Lee and Ms Curran for the very clear passion that they both share. They do not share the same views but they clearly both share the same sort of passion for this topic. Like Mr Faafoi who has just resumed his seat I am going to perhaps be a little calmer and more measured in my views on this lest people observing this wonder whether there is some artificial stimulant in the water. I would just like to reassure them that there is not. This water is homeopathic water. It is merely water diluted by lots of water. It is very powerful stuff.Minister Adams when she introduced the bill in this reading gave some context as to where we have come from to get to what we are preparing for today. This bill is about helping Radio New Zealand adapt to technological possibilities and channels and the opportunities that that creates for today. But looking back gives us some context of where we have come from and come so quickly. It was in 1925 that we first had a public radio broadcaster. That is 91 years that we have had a public radio broadcaster in New Zealand. That is a phenomenal achievement when you think of it. Of course none of us were there to witness that first day or those early days but we can imagine perhaps from stories in our own families over the generations what it might have been like—the old wireless technology valve technology which had to warm up before it would work antenna technology and reception that was not so great so the signal would be difficult to hear. It would cut in and out but people would cluster families would cluster around to hear the news to be entertained to learn more about New Zealand to learn more about the world. They would get up in the middle of the night as the stories are told to hear about the All Blacks’ exploits in countries far away and to hear the passion of commentators as they described the games described the points described the tries.And today we have high-definition video. We have very high-quality audio. We have digital technology for our radio broadcasts as well. We have not only our traditional airwaves but the internet as a medium for broadcasting audio video and in fact written content. We have so many other forms of technologies but at the heart of it when we are consuming this—and I will refer specifically to Radio New Zealand content whether it is over the airwaves or over the internet—it is still delivering a broadcast of content that is informing New Zealanders about their communities their country the world and our place in it and the exploits of New Zealanders in cultural events in sports in business and in achievements around the globe. It remains as much of a valuable tool in informing and entertaining Kiwis and their families as it was 91 years ago but it is if we give it the support able to do so by leveraging and harnessing the technological capabilities that are available today. When we look at why this bill is coming to the House it is around this Government’s commitment to delivering Better Public Services. That includes the continuation of a reliable independent public radio capability. In fact we do not want just to continue that capability; we want to expand and protect it for the future which is why this bill supports Radio New Zealand expanding into new media platforms and adjusting to changing technological environments.As Minister Adams pointed out there are two core sets of changes in this amendment. One is a revised charter and the second is to make Radio New Zealand technology-neutral although I would use slightly different language there because I would not like to give people the impression that “neutral” in this context is uninteresting or bland. It is quite the opposite. In this case the technology is about exploiting all of the technological capabilities of the 21st century—so one that will exploit web technology and mobile applications will stream audio will stream other content and will give far more opportunities for Kiwis to be informed.But let us look first at the Radio New Zealand charter. The charter is a very practical and pragmatic shift or reinforcement. It makes a stronger statement about Radio New Zealand’s role as a public broadcaster. In fact in the recent annual review in the Commerce Committee—in that public hearing Radio New Zealand reaffirmed its commitment to a core free-to-air service and no advertising. It also said—and I take a note because the members opposite particularly the previous Labour speaker Kris Faafoi talked about how dire the circumstances for Radio New Zealand are. The comment from its chair was that despite difficult circumstances they the board were confident that they would meet their anticipated budget for the next year. This is a business that also has to operate in an environment that is close to global financial crisis. In trying financial circumstances it is delivering more content on more channels to more people and its people are saying that they can do it and they will do it again next year. The board the chief executive officer and in fact the entire team of Radio New Zealand deserve our congratulations.Importantly if the charter is reaffirming Radio New Zealand’s role as a public broadcaster and a commercial-free service the text has been drafted and organised so that it is more accessible to the public. After all if this is a public broadcast service it does make very good sense that the public should be able to understand the charter what its intentions are and how Radio New Zealand will go about delivering that.I would just like to make a note or two about the select committee process in 2009 when this bill was referred to the Commerce Committee. Unlike 2005 when about 163-odd submissions were heard and despite all of that public interest despite the clear interest in the charter revision and the amendment Labour sat on the bill and did not bother passing it—despite that public interest no it clearly felt that light bulbs and low-flow shower heads were far more important to New Zealanders than actually their public broadcasting radio service. Well in 2009 when the bill went before the select committee for a second time there was a single submission that was made and that submission supported the amendments to the charter. But the select committee did not sit on its hands. It also sought advice from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and from the Clerk of the House of Representatives on whether to propose an amendment that would require Radio New Zealand to broadcast summaries of Parliamentary proceedings.I can say that that amendment was made in relation to the fact that Radio New Zealand was no longer making those sorts of broadcasts. The Commerce Committee was advised that that was contractually controlled by the Office of the Clerk and technically out of the remit of that particular select committee but that the broadcaster may have no editorial input and that would preclude a contract with Radio New Zealand. Although that is unfortunate for New Zealanders in that it was determined that they probably would not be able to broadcast these proceedings we can at least celebrate that it was reaffirming Radio New Zealand’s right to exercise editorial control over whatever it is that it is broadcasting. So the bill was recommended back to the House by that select committee without amendment.Dr Megan Woods: When was that?BRETT HUDSON: That was in two thousand and—yeah a few years ago.What I would like to talk about now is the futureproofing part of this bill. What we see here is a change and amendment that will support far more web content: webcasting audio video content. But what is really exciting is the launch Radio New Zealand has had of The Wireless something that is growing at a phenomenal rate and is really connecting with other demographics.