9. GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) Link to this
to the Minister of Broadcasting
What is the process by which he raises issues of concern with Radio New Zealand, and what issues has he raised recently?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Broadcasting) Link to this
As Minister of Broadcasting and shareholding Minister for Radio New Zealand, my role is to ensure the board understands and accounts for the interests of the shareholder in terms that are financial and in terms of policy. The general process for engagement with Radio New Zealand is through the quarterly meetings with the chair and with the chief executive. I am currently in discussion, for example, with Radio New Zealand about the business planning process for the 2008 financial year. This interaction is mainly through correspondence between myself and the chair.
Madam SPEAKERWould the member please just ask his question. There was no interjection and no interruption, so please ask the question.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. If there was no interruption, I would not have stopped asking the question and looked at the back of the Chamber to see who was making all the noise. Rules are rules.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Madam Speaker, you have given clear rulings in recent weeks that the issue is whether the member asking the question or the Minister answering it can be heard. The member certainly would not claim to have a light voice. He could be heard extremely clearly. Mr Peters, as the leader of a party, was consulting a colleague. It is quite normal in this Parliament for a leader or a whip to be quietly consulting a colleague.
We learn something every day! I am deeply appreciative of the interest Dr Cullen takes in my education. Did the Minister or any of his staff demand that Sean Plunket apologise and withdraw his on-air comments about the Minister on 23 March, and was a threat also made that this matter would be raised with the board of Radio New Zealand if no withdrawal and apology were forthcoming?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The member is referring to the reference made by a host of the Morning Report show, Mr Sean Plunket, when he labelled me a racist. I immediately rang the programme to say that I would like that comment withdrawn, which is the right of anybody to do. I did it in my capacity as Minister of Education, which is what the reference was made to. I also said that, yes, if I did not get this retraction, I wanted to take it up formally. I remind people in the House that all of us—Murray McCully, for example, yells down the phone regularly at journalists—as individuals have the right to take exception. We also have the right to make a formal complaint. We also have the right to go to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. I decided, after I had phoned the programme and it was obvious that they were not going to respond to it, that I would not bother taking it any further.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Does the Minister think it is appropriate for the Minister responsible for Radio New Zealand to abuse that position by complaining about operational matters to the board that he himself appointed; if not, why not?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I think it is entirely reasonable for the Minister of Education to take exception to being called a racist, and I would do it again now.
Is the Minister aware that his decision to threaten Radio New Zealand with a direct appeal to the board of directors that he appoints sits outside the provisions of section 13(1)(a) of the Radio New Zealand Act; and can he tell us why he thinks it is acceptable in any circumstances for Ministers to use their authority in this manner when there are other channels to be used?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I think it is entirely acceptable for any member of this House, including the Minister of Education, when he or she is labelled a racist by a morning radio show host, to ring that programme and ask for the remark to be withdrawn, and if it is not withdrawn, to have open to him or her the option of then formally complaining and going to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. I bet that if any members on the other side of the House who feel deeply about any concerns they have are labelled anything like that, as someone in my position has been—I am the Minister of Education; I take these issues seriously—they would phone the programme, just as I did. I would do it again tomorrow.
Does the Minister agree that a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority would be acceptable, but that his decision to threaten Radio New Zealand with a direct complaint to the board that he appoints was inappropriate?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I repeat for the member that I rang the studio in the capacity of a Minister of Education who had been told that comments that he had made as the Minister of Education were racist. I have every right, just as that member does, to do that, and to indicate that I would undertake a formal complaint within the 20-day period. I did not go on to say the rest of the things on the chain that could be done, like going to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. But that is exactly what that member, sitting across from me, can do—he can do it, just as I can do it—and I would do it again tomorrow.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Can the Minister confirm that Radio New Zealand frequently runs advertisements advising people that if they have a complaint about any matter, it should first be taken to Radio New Zealand before proceeding any further?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Not only does Radio New Zealand say that; for members of the House who may feel aggrieved at being labelled in the ways that I was on that morning, I say that the first step in the complaints procedure is to complain to the broadcaster concerned. Frankly, that is best done immediately, because then there is some hope that there may be a retraction. Within 20 days a formal complaint should be made to that broadcaster. If, after that, the person is not happy with what is happening, he or she has the right to go to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. I say to the member Gerry Brownlee that if he is ever in the position of being the Minister of Education, and if he has a history, like I do, of standing against racism—literally since I was a child—he would no doubt take great offence at being labelled that, and he would complain, too.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Would the Minister, given the severity of the situation, like to join me in my suit against Radio New Zealand, whose defence is that it did not mean what it said?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I just reiterate to members of the House that all media, of course, have to be held accountable by people in this House. We all face, day after day, people commenting on and editorialising our actions, and we have the right to comment back.
Once the Minister had made his complaint to Radio New Zealand, did he threaten to take the matter directly to the board if a withdrawal was not made?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I indicated to it that that was what I would do. That is what one does by making a formal complaint: one complains right to the board of Radio New Zealand. I have explained and explained that. That is what I would do, and I would say the same again tomorrow; if Mr Plunket was to editorialise in that way, I would complain again.
Has he compared notes about ministerial behaviour with his colleague the Minister for State Owned Enterprises, the Hon Trevor Mallard, who just last week was loudly and rather publicly heard accusing journalists working for State-owned Television New Zealand of political bias against the Labour Party?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
All I can say is that my understanding is that my colleague Mr Trevor Mallard has a wonderful relationship with the media, both here and around the country. In fact, as far as I can see, he is a man known for the warmth and compassion that he conveys to people all over the country.