Hon Georgina te Heuheu MP - National Party Broadcasting Spokeswoman

08 November 2004

TVNZ gets still more money to deliver on charter

"Clearly the Government expects its charter to cost TVNZ a lot more to implement than it was originally thought," says National Party Broadcasting spokeswoman Georgina te Heuheu.

"On top of the multi-millions that Labour has already poured into the state broadcaster to implement the charter, today we are told that $11.4 million more is on the way.

"National believes there are independent producers employed outside of TVNZ who are just as keen to tell real New Zealand stories. Labour should not shut them out in favour of the TV network that it controls.

"The public should be told precisely how TVNZ has spent the charter money it has already received. For all we know, the extra cash is going on hospitality, credit cards and wardrobe expenses.

"Given that lack of detail and lack of accountability, it's impossible to know whether the taxpayer is getting any real value for the extra millions that we're putting in," says Mrs te Heuheu.

ENDS

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