Jonathan Coleman MP
National Party Broadcasting Spokesman

12 April 2007

Groundhog day for staff at TVNZ

National Party Broadcasting spokesman Jonathan Coleman says Labour must shoulder its fair share of the blame for the redundancies at state television today.

"I have great sympathy for those TVNZ staff who are losing their jobs, having received what appeared to be cast iron assurances in 1999 about the future of public television under Labour.

"This isn't the first time Labour's policies have led to significant sackings at TVNZ. Former Broadcasting Minister Marian Hobbs oversaw a multimillion-dollar cost-cutting exercise in 2001, euphemistically dubbed 'project renewal'.

"Six years later it's groundhog day for the staff. More redundancies, accompanied by a slump in ratings, a drop in advertising revenue and a policy vacuum around the shift to digital TV."

Dr Coleman says uncertainty about the future is likely to be a factor in the layoffs.

"The Broadcasting Minister can't tell us what the new channels will be offering, can't say how many people will be watching and has made a complete hash of questions about the cost of set-top boxes."

Dr Coleman recently revealed the set-top equipment is likely to cost twice as much as Steve Maharey originally quoted.

"When you double the price, demand will obviously be affected. It's not rocket science. It's little wonder, then, that the management at TVNZ are worried about costs in the longer term.

"Of course, when you sack the people making programmes, particularly news programmes, the quality of those programmes will suffer.

"Labour and Mr Maharey must reconcile that with their bold promises in Opposition."

ENDS

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