Press Release
Stephen Berry
Media

Green Party’s Slippery Slope

“The Green Party watermelons are showing just how red they are on the inside with their insidious plan to use state force to regulate the media in New Zealand,” says Tamaki Independent candidate Stephen Berry. “This policy smears butter all over the Orwellian slippery slope to fascism and state censorship.”

The Green policy is to make currently independent watchdogs answerable to the Government. The Green party says they support “responsible industry self-regulation” at the same time they argue for minimum standards in broadcasting. Stephen Berry says that this policy announcement from the Green party is “dishonest and duplicitous double speak. Lies. The Greens do not support self-regulation at all. They advocate for a very dangerous Government body to control the content presented by our media companies. It is the first step toward Goebelsisation of the media; voters should be very afraid.”

Even more dangerous are Green party plans for minimum local content quotas. “The Green party actually thinks it is legitimate for the Government to dictate what private media companies show for our entertainment. Rubbish that would make a station unprofitable because so few wish to watch it would become compulsory in a Green party Government. This isn’t just poor economics, it is fascism. The state should never have the power to control media content unless that content violates the rights of another person. One example might be child pornography.”

Stephen Berry’s broadcasting policy s predictably based on a reduction of Government involvement in the industry.
· Abolish the Broadcasting Standards Authority
· Advise the Advertising Standards Authority that they need not fear state regulation and invite the body to disestablish itself.
· Privatise TVNZ
· Privatise Radio New Zealand
· No further loans to private media companies
· No Government involvement in the industry except in cases where content can be shown to violate individual rights – this can be dealt with through the courts.

“Well meaning naivety is behind the Green party broadcasting policy, but this is how the erosion of individual liberty always begins. Voters should not allow themselves to be fooled by ignorant do-gooders of the state.”

Ends

Stephen Berry
Independent candidate, Tamaki

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