Do-nothing Minister fails regional viewers

Craig Foss has once again lived up to his reputation as a do-nothing Minister with his failure to take any action to support regional broadcasters during their transition from analogue to digital, Labour’s Broadcasting Spokesperson Kris Faafoi says.

“I have had requests from a large number of regional broadcasters pleading for policy backing yet official documents show Mr Foss walks the talk when it comes to doing nothing.

“Craig Foss hailed the digital switch over as the single best thing for broadcasting, but the reality is that he failed to recognise it would create hardship for broadcasters that represent the regions.

“A swag of them face an uphill battle for survival because of the costs of transmission in the new digital world.

“New Zealand’s grassroots broadcasters are an integral part of the community. Labour  will reserve digital spectrum space for public and regional broadcasters to ensure Kiwis have access to television that lets them know what is going on in their own patch.

“Craig Foss does deserve credit for consistency; he has done nothing to resolve the issues around Novopay, he has done nothing to support produce suppliers and he has done nothing to support our regional broadcasters,” Kris Faafoi said.    

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