Coleman Jonathan: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:655;Page:4628] 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Broadcasting) 
: 
 I move  
That the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 This bill amends the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Its purpose is to update Radio New Zealand’s charter following the second 5-yearly parliamentary review required by section 7(4) of the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. The enactment of this legislation will conclude that review which was not completed during the term of the previous Government. 
Radio New Zealand’s charter is a statement of its statutory functions. The charter outlines the purposes for which the Government owns and funds Radio New Zealand. The second parliamentary review of Radio New Zealand’s charter was completed in 2006. In preparation for the review Radio New Zealand conducted its own preliminary review of the charter in 2005. This was followed by an extensive public consultation process which led to the drafting of a revised charter. The charter’s second review gave Radio New Zealand the opportunity to consult its listeners and stakeholders. The revised version of the charter was amended after Radio New Zealand considered the feedback contained in 165 submissions. 
The Commerce Committee was then invited to undertake the second review of the charter on behalf of the House of Representatives. In December 2005 Radio New Zealand’s proposed new draft of its charter as amended following public consultation was forwarded to the committee for its information and consideration. The select committee tabled its report on 22 March 2006. In the report the committee stated that it was satisfied with the drafting of Radio New Zealand’s proposed revision. The new charter was unanimously supported by the committee. 
As a result of this comprehensive review the revised charter makes a stronger statement than its predecessor about Radio New Zealand’s role as a public broadcaster. The revised text also streamlines and clarifies the charter but will not materially alter Radio New Zealand’s functions or its operations. 
Clause 5 inserts new section 8 which contains the charter. The charter is divided into two parts: purpose and delivery. The first part the purpose makes a strong statement concerning Radio New Zealand’s purpose as being to serve the public interest and it describes how this will be achieved through Public Service broadcasting principles of independence freedom of thought and expression reliability and accessibility. 
The second part delivery expands on how the charter’s purposes must be delivered and requires Radio New Zealand to endeavour to provide services of the highest quality according to key delivery measures. Amongst other things those measures require Radio New Zealand to provide services that are predominantly and distinctively of New Zealand; that inform entertain and enlighten the people of New Zealand; that are challenging innovative and engaging; and that foster critical thought and informed and wide-ranging debate. The language in the charter has been simplified and the intent is more clearly expressed. This should allow the public to better understand the charter’s objectives. 
The Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill also sets out the principles of operation for Radio New Zealand. These are designed to support the introduction of the new charter and reflect Radio New Zealand’s non-commercial public service nature. New section 8A in clause 5 includes a stronger definition of “commercial-free” and recasts financial viability requirements so that they now remove any potential for requiring that Radio New Zealand provide a dividend. This is consistent both with this Government’s expectations of Radio New Zealand and with longstanding practice. 
The bill also updates the requirement for a 5-yearly charter review. Under the current legislation the implementation of a revised charter is delayed as in the current case and the life of the new charter before the next review is required can be significantly shorter than the intended 5 years. New section 8B also in clause 5 removes this potential and provides that the clock does not start ticking on any future review until the charter then in force has been in place for 5 years. 
It has now been almost 3 years since the completion of Radio New Zealand’s second charter review. This bill languished under the last administration whereas this Government is committed to fulfilling its legislative responsibilities. This should have been done but the previous Government just never got around to doing it. This is an unfair situation for Radio New Zealand and it shows that the previous Minister of Broadcasting had other priorities. It is highly desirable that the related legislative process be concluded as soon as possible to ensure that Radio New Zealand can operate to an up-to-date and clear public service mandate. 
The adoption into legislation of the revised charter supports this Government’s manifesto commitment to provide certainty in relation to the operations of public service broadcasters. There is a remarkably high level of public support for the concept of public service radio broadcasting in New Zealand. This is illustrated by the results of recent research. As well as using the Nielsen company to carry out an ongoing listener survey Radio New Zealand contracts the company to carry out Radio New Zealand value indices research. The results of Radio New Zealand’s latest annual survey of its listeners are the best that Radio New Zealand has achieved since the broadcaster commenced specific charter research in 2000. 
One of this Government’s broadcasting commitments was to have more transparency around public funding for broadcasting. We want to make ratings and research data such as this research by Radio New Zealand available in one place so that it is easy for people to find and use. We want to aggregate all this information on a central Ministry of Culture and Heritage website and we intend to have this up and running by the first quarter of the new financial year. The research shows that Radio New Zealand is doing a really good job but we want to make sure that people know where to go to find out this kind of information about all our public broadcasters. 
Radio New Zealand and its staff won an outstanding 13 awards for excellence at the 2009 New Zealand Radio Awards. These awards recognise the very best work from commercial and public service radio broadcasters throughout the country. The awards won by Radio New Zealand included metropolitan station of the year best radio website individual journalist of the year best documentary or feature programme for its tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary two awards for best daily or weekly series best dramatic production and best music feature. 
Radio New Zealand has adapted well to new technologies in the changing media environment. Radio New Zealand National and Radio New Zealand Concert are both available on the FreeView platform. Online broadcasting activities have been a major focus for Radio New Zealand in recent years. Radio New Zealand has a growing web presence as far as online listening is concerned. Its website offers live streaming a high-quality text-based news service podcasting audio on demand and an extensive programme archive. 
In January of this year Radio New Zealand advised that more than 6 million programmes or programme segments were replayed via its website in the 12 months to the end of December 2008. The volume of online listening which included audio on demand and podcasting was more than double the level recorded in 2007. Many of the people who are now downloading programme content through the Radio New Zealand website are new to its audience. These people include younger listeners and a growing number of New Zealanders who are living overseas. Radio New Zealand’s online broadcasts have increased every month since the service was first launched in 2005 and that growth is expected to continue. 
Radio New Zealand is leading the world’s media with its coverage of events in Fiji with many major international news organisations quoting Radio New Zealand in their own reports. With heavy censorship of local Fijian media Radio New Zealand International’s website and direct shortwave broadcasts have been among the few reliable sources of news and information for those living in Fiji. With the continuing political and social instability across the Pacific Radio New Zealand International is now clearly regarded as the authoritative voice of the Pacific. 
Radio New Zealand Concert plays a vital role in the health and well-being of many of New Zealand’s premier cultural institutions including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Chamber Music New Zealand the New Zealand String Quartet the Royal New Zealand Ballet the National Opera of New Zealand and performing orchestras in Christchurch and Dunedin. 
Radio New Zealand’s services and programmes are non-commercial pure examples of public service broadcasting. They reflect and respond to the needs and interests of particular sections of the national audience without consideration for the interests of advertisers. The enactment of the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill will deliver certainty and clarity to Radio New Zealand as a public service broadcaster. It reflects changes proposed and accepted as part of the second statutory review of the Radio New Zealand charter and it concludes that review. I move that the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill be considered— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member may move that motion at the end of the first reading. At this stage he must indicate which select committee the bill will be referred to. 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: It is going to the Commerce Committee.