Burns Brendon: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Burns Brendon: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:655;Page:4630] 
BRENDON BURNS (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
: 
 I am very pleased to speak in support of the introduction tonight of the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill and to speak fulsomely about Radio New Zealand as an organisation. 
I acknowledge that there is a lot of flu going around. Maybe the Minister of Broadcasting has a touch of that flu because he did not seem to speak too passionately about Radio New Zealand. In fact he was about as flat as the Mt Albert headquarters for National on the night of the by-election. In my view Radio New Zealand is a national taonga. It is a treasure and I am very pleased to see this renewed charter for Radio New Zealand. I shudder to think what life would be like without it. What would we have done last month? How would we have known that National was conceding the Mt Albert by-election without the interview on Radio New Zealand to tell us that a month before the election? 
Radio New Zealand has survived against the odds. National members have not always been great fans of Radio New Zealand. At times they have looked at cutting the guts out of Radio New Zealand so I acknowledge that the Minister of Broadcasting has brought this bill forward. It has been long in gestation. In fact I acknowledge that there were coalition partners within the last Government that dragged their heels somewhat on this bill as they were perhaps not quite so enthusiastic about Radio New Zealand. But the bill is here in the House tonight and that is a very welcome development. 
As the Minister has mentioned Radio New Zealand is constantly acknowledged for its contribution to New Zealand life. Internationally it wins many awards and last month it won the New Zealand Radio Awards radio station of the year award and 13 other awards including all of the journalism radio awards. It won an award for being the metropolitan station of the year which is an acknowledgment from the commercial radio industry that it is a leading radio station on an international basis. 
I would like to talk for a moment about some of the background to the bill. It began under Labour; we will support it. I also acknowledge at this point the contribution made by the former Minister of Broadcasting Steve Maharey. It was Steve Maharey who in a member’s bill in 1993 first suggested the idea of a Radio New Zealand charter which came through embodied in legislation passed in 1995 by the then National Government. 
One of the things I would like to touch on is that the Minister has spoken in support of Radio New Zealand yet the fact is that Radio New Zealand’s funding has been frozen for the next 4 years. It got a lift of about $2 million under the previous Government but it has now been frozen for the next 4 years. It is easy to praise Radio New Zealand as an organisation; it deserves that sort of praise. The Minister in a speech last month talked about its playing an important role in public life both in New Zealand and in the wider Pacific region. It is a very important tool in foreign policy because Radio New Zealand International is the voice of New Zealand in our South Pacific region. But if Radio New Zealand is to continue to contribute grow and develop then it certainly needs more financial support than it will get over the next 4 years. 
Be that as it may we have the bill here tonight and it is about the Radio New Zealand charter. I acknowledge that the charter is extraordinarily positive. It reinforces Radio New Zealand’s capacity to do its job. It will reinforce the ability of Radio New Zealand to continue to operate and to provide its leading voice in terms of New Zealand’s cultural identity and its contribution to public life. Many MPs have been interviewed by Radio New Zealand. The programme  
Morning Report  
is part of the lifeblood of the nation as is  
Checkpoint 
 and other programmes. I think it is fundamental to New Zealand life for many many New Zealanders. So we are very pleased to see this bill back before the House. 
I would like to look back through the history of Radio New Zealand. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio New Zealand and the other State broadcaster Television New Zealand faced a tough time. The National Government of the time froze the license fee which caused great difficulties. It is almost a miracle that Radio New Zealand has survived. That funding gap also caused Television New Zealand to become much more commercially focused and in some respects to move away from the public service objectives that were expected of it. Through the charter Radio New Zealand upholds those public service broadcasting objectives. They are a fundamental requirement for Radio New Zealand and it is to be applauded that they uphold them. Amongst the requirements that this charter embodies its purpose is to foster “a sense of national identity by contributing to tolerance and understanding reflecting and promoting ethnic cultural and artistic diversity”. The charter requires Radio New Zealand “to inform entertain and enlighten the people of New Zealand:”. It will provide programmes that “are challenging innovative and engaging:”. It will “foster critical thought and informed and wide-ranging debate:”. It will “stimulate support and reflect the diversity of cultural expression”. It will “provide comprehensive independent accurate impartial and balanced regional national and international news and current affairs:”. If members think of the range of hosts from  
Morning Report  
through the  
Nine to Noon  
programme—hosts such as Kim Hill on Saturday mornings and Chris Laidlaw on Sunday mornings—and the host of other programmes across Radio New Zealand National and its sister programme Radio New Zealand Concert they will see that it absolutely delivers on the objectives reflected in this charter. 
I comment on the history of Radio New Zealand going back to the period before this charter was first suggested by Steve Maharey in 1993. There has not always been unanimity of support for Radio New Zealand. When Steve Maharey introduced his bill back in 1993 Tony Ryall—who was at that point I think a Minister with responsibilities in that area—said that it was costing taxpayers $20 million a year to provide the two networks National Radio and Concert FM. His view was that those services could be provided to an equivalent if not better standard by an alternative provider. I have spoken to commercial broadcasters since I took on the Opposition portfolio for broadcasting and I have not yet met a person who does not uphold the fact that Radio New Zealand is an important component of the broadcasting scene. Even commercial broadcasters say that they uphold the idea of contributing taxes towards Radio New Zealand because of the job it performs and the functions it carries out to a very very high level as those awards obviously recognise. As I have mentioned that has not always been the case. There have been times through the period of the 1980s and the 1990s when it was not just Tony Ryall who was questioning the value of Radio New Zealand. Maurice Williamson who was the Minister of Broadcasting at one point did not believe that the Government needed to provide some of the services that Radio New Zealand was providing. He was in two minds at one point in the mid-1990s about issuing the directive that the funding for Radio New Zealand be continued. 
I hope that members opposite have moved on. I think that we require a bipartisan commitment to Radio New Zealand and the contribution it makes to New Zealand life identity and culture. It is recognised time and time again as an important and integral component of New Zealand life and this bill really embodies that recognition. We have seen not only the industry but also media commentators recognise Radio New Zealand. I again note the issue of funding for Radio New Zealand. John Drinnan in the  
New Zealand Herald  
quite recently talked about a somewhat miserly approach to Radio New Zealand. This is a newspaper media commentator acknowledging the contribution that Radio New Zealand makes and saying to the Minister of Broadcasting that we really need to look at the funding models for Radio New Zealand. 
One of the things reflected in the charter is how Radio New Zealand has been a leader in embracing technology. There were 6 million downloads from Radio New Zealand in the calendar year of 2008. Life gets busy and not everybody is simply able to listen to Radio New Zealand on the spot. Radio New Zealand has leading-edge technology which is a wonderful resource but the technology costs money. I implore the Minister to consider the future of Radio New Zealand in a cash-straitened environment. There is also a report that looks at Radio New Zealand’s funding which I understand the Minister has declined to release. I say to him to put it into the public domain. Let us have the debate; let us see what the organisation that reviewed Radio New Zealand’s funding had to say. Let us hear the argument and let us see if there is a strong case for Radio New Zealand to have improved funding. 
I am supportive of this measure. The charter is integral to Radio New Zealand. Radio New Zealand is an absolutely vital component to New Zealand public life. I am very pleased to see this bill come through into the House. The Labour Party will be supporting this bill through to select committee.