New Bill to repeal outdated Broadcasting Standards Authority

ACT MP Laura McClure has lodged a member’s bill which would repeal the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA).

”New Zealand’s broadcasting rules were written in the 1980s, in a different time when Kiwis were forced to get news and entertainment from a handful of TV channels and radio stations. Broadcasting rights were doled out by the Government and regulated on that basis," says McClure.

"These days, people have endless choice. Kiwis get information from countless digital, on-demand and social platforms, from both local and international sources. If someone doesn't like what they see or hear, they can tune in to something else.

”The BSA’s attempt earlier this year to expand its remit into online media, following a complaint against The Platform and Sean Plunket, was an attempt counter its own irrelevance with massive overreach. When a government-appointed body tries to regulate speech on podcasts and livestreams, we have a serious problem.

”The correct response to the BSA's irrelevance is to abolish it, not to expand its powers. We'll still have laws against defamation and obscenity; we just don't need a taxpayer-funded body policing taste and opinion online."

McClure’s Broadcasting (Disestablishment of Broadcasting Standards Authority) Amendment Bill would repeal Part 3 of the Broadcasting Act 1989, dissolving the Authority and removing related provisions from other Acts.

”About $700,000 of the BSA's $1.8 million budget comes from levies. ACT doesn't usually support favours for the media, but in this case we'll happily remove a pointless tax on struggling media outlets," says McClure.

”If my Bill is drawn and supported, we'll clear away a legacy institution that has outlived its usefulness. More importantly, we'll affirm that in a free country, the ultimate broadcasting standard is the judgment of the audience.”

A copy of the Bill can be found here.