JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) : Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill. We continue to live in times of unprecedented technological development, and the speed of change is accelerating. This bill enables Television New Zealand (TVNZ) to keep abreast of that change by replacing the Television New Zealand charter with a briefer, less prescriptive statement of functions, enabling TVNZ to freely determine its own priorities against more general sets of functions. Added to this, the economic downturn, which has affected the advertising revenue of TVNZ substantially, has highlighted the need for TVNZ to implement this strategy in an accelerated manner.

This amendment bill will enable TVNZ to develop its strategy of moving forward as our publicly owned broadcaster. I quote from its 2010 statement of intent, which was released in May 2009: “This strategy was about moving TVNZ from being a traditional advertising driven analogue broadcaster to being a multi-platform television and digital media company with diversified revenue streams.”

We live in times when change is about us all the time, regarding the digital media world in which we live. TVNZ needs to keep up that change in order for it to remain competitive, but competition is not a dreadful thing. We heard discussions tonight about naked commercialism. Competition has the positive effect of bringing better quality at a better price. It becomes efficient in all sorts of different ways. The Television New Zealand Amendment Bill also specifies that TVNZ provide content through a range of media in addition to the conventional television channels, so this bill is keeping step with the statement of intent.

One thing that was touched on by the previous speaker, Te Ururoa Flavell, was the archived works that this bill will unlock. The other purpose of this bill is to allow for the rescreening of television programmes produced before the establishment of the Broadcasting Commission—on or before 27 May 1989. These works, which are held in the TVNZ archives, are not currently able to be shown in their entirety because, with the passage of time, some rights-holders cannot be found. It is in the public interest that they be seen again, as they are all part of New Zealand’s screen heritage. The Government has had to strike a balance between the public good of allowing these works to be reshown and acknowledging the rights of contract holders. The regime does not allow individuals involved in the making of programmes to object to their rescreening or to individually negotiate payment for reuse of content. As a practical matter, it is not feasible or worthwhile for TVNZ to track down every such individual to seek clearance and negotiate a fee for shows made in some cases more than 30 years ago. Instead, the regime introduced by the bill involves general notification and some modest but equitable payment for those who respond.

The bill limits use of the content to free-to-air use—that is, TVNZ cannot charge people to view the content. TVNZ may screen pre-1989 archived works without having to negotiate with each individual. It provides for TVNZ to grant to the Māori Television Service the right to screen archived works and for TVNZ to enter into arrangements with New Zealand On Screen to screen archived works. Works screened under this section must be screened free of charge. If an archived work is to be screened other than free of charge, TVNZ would be obliged to provide for the normal legal rights and privileges, if any, to these interested persons. The bill provides for the establishment of the TVNZ Archived Works Fund for the purpose of making payment to those who register their interest in an archived work that is to be screened.

The charter contains clauses relating to Māori audiences and content. It states that TVNZ will, in its programming, enable all New Zealanders to have access to material that promotes Māori language and culture and feature programmes that serve the interests and informational needs of Māori audiences, including programmes promoting the Māori language and programmes addressing Māori history, culture, and current issues. The bill expects TVNZ to provide content reflecting Māori perspectives, with or without a charter. TVNZ has had a longstanding commitment to Māori programming. I am very happy to commend this bill to the House. Thank you.