Petition is successful with 21,485 signatures
To: The Minister for Broadcasting
Save Radio NZ's Funding
Thank you for helping to make a difference. You were amongst the 32,337 who demanded the unfreezing of Radio New Zealand’s funding, and on 25 May the ice thawed.
A month after we delivered our petition to Parliament (together with Jo Bond's Fund RNZ petition -
see https://medium.com/actionstation/32-337-demand-government-unfreeze-radio-new-zealand-funding-2b310ed3271d), the Government responded with a $2.85m funding boost in the Budget 2017.
People power has prevailed in this case. The quality independent journalism that RNZ delivers is crucial to maintain our democracy. The Government has finally done something to recognise this.
But, it doesn’t go as far as we’d hoped. Dr Peter Thompson (Coalition for Better Broadcasting Chair) recently calculated that RNZ is now underfunded by $14m a year. When you compare this boost to the $60 million per year the Government has committed to attracting Hollywood Producers, it does make you wonder about priorities. While we celebrate the $2.85m boost there’s still work to do to ensure RNZ thrives beyond the next four years.
