Enough talk and delay: scrap the BSA now

ACT MP Laura McClure says comments from the Broadcasting Minister that the Broadcasting Standards Authority may be scrapped show ACT’s campaign is working, but New Zealanders expect faster movement from Government on issues like this.

“The BSA is an outdated regulator trying to stretch a law written for rabbit-ear TV over the modern internet. The Minister seems to recognise that reality, which is good, but this is not a complicated issue.

“The BSA doesn’t seem to have any serious defenders. Meanwhile, I’ve lodged a Member’s Bill to scrap the Authority, and thousands of New Zealanders have backed ACT’s petition on the matter.

“We can save money for taxpayers and levy-payers by moving now. If the Minister won’t move on this, ACT will take this plan to the election and get it done in the first 100 days of the next Parliament.

“Kiwis have endless choice in what they watch, read, and listen to. If you don’t like something, you switch it off. We don’t need a taxpayer-funded taste police trying to control online content.

“We already have a Media Council, and real harm like defamation and incitement is already covered by law. The BSA doesn’t fill a gap, it’s trying to invent one.

“The right response to an obsolete regulator isn’t to give it more power. It’s to shut it down.”