The announcement that Radio New Zealand (RNZ) is planning to cut nearly 60 full-time jobs following a shocking $11.8 million financial loss is more than an embarrassing management failure. It is another warning about the increasingly uncertain future of public broadcasting in New Zealand.
And it raises an uncomfortable political question: after years of opposing Labour’s proposed merger of RNZ and TVNZ, what exactly is the National-led government’s alternative?
In 2022, the former Labour government proposed bringing RNZ and TVNZ together under a new public media entity. The proposal was ambitious, expensive and controversial, but it attempted to address a genuine problem: how could New Zealand maintain strong, financially sustainable public broadcasting in an increasingly fragmented digital media landscape?
National fiercely opposed the proposal, describing it as wasteful and unnecessary. Christopher Luxon even called it a “total, utter, insane waste of money”.
Ultimately, it was Labour itself that abandoned the merger in February 2023, as newly appointed Prime Minister Chris Hipkins shifted his government’s priorities towards the cost-of-living crisis.
Yet the underlying problems never disappeared.
Three years later, RNZ faces a financial crisis, TVNZ continues to operate in a difficult commercial environment, and New Zealand’s broader news industry remains under enormous pressure.
The National-led government’s answer has largely been to demand greater efficiency, reduce funding and pursue regulatory reform. What remains missing is a convincing long-term strategy for protecting public broadcasting itself.
A financial disaster that demands accountability
RNZ’s latest annual report reveals an extraordinary financial failure.
The broadcaster had expected to lose just $470,000 in the financial year ending June 2026. Instead, its actual loss reached $11.8 million, more than 25 times the forecast.
Internal financial reporting failed to reveal the true financial position. Millions of dollars in expenditure were incorrectly forecast or exceeded expectations, including costs associated with property sales, staff and the relocation of RNZ’s Auckland offices.
RNZ also established a $5 million overdraft facility without the required ministerial approval, breaching the Crown Entities Act.
These failures are serious. They cannot simply be blamed on government funding cuts.
The broadcaster’s board, senior management and financial oversight processes must face proper scrutiny. The independent review announced by RNZ chair Brent Impey is necessary, and its findings should be made public wherever possible.
But the most troubling consequence is that ordinary RNZ employees are now facing the prospect of losing their jobs because of failures they did not create.
The broadcaster plans to eliminate the equivalent of 58 full-time positions by March 2027, approximately one in six of its workforce.
Journalists, producers and other essential staff could pay the price for decisions made far above them.
That is difficult to justify.
National rejected Labour’s solution. Where is its own?
Labour’s proposed RNZ–TVNZ merger was far from perfect. Concerns about its cost, governance, potential bureaucracy and the independence of public media were legitimate.
But the idea recognised something fundamental: New Zealand’s broadcasting system needed structural reform.
The merger was intended to create a stronger public media organisation capable of responding to changing audience behaviour, declining traditional revenue and competition from global digital platforms.
National argued that such a merger would waste taxpayers’ money. It was entitled to make that argument.
However, opposing one proposal is not the same as developing a better alternative.
Since taking office, the National-led government has pursued media regulatory changes, but these do not amount to a comprehensive financial solution for RNZ and TVNZ.
Instead, Budget 2025 reduced RNZ’s operating funding by approximately $4.6 million annually, a cut of about 7 percent.
Now, as RNZ struggles with its financial position, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith has described the situation as disappointing and called for improved management.
Of course financial discipline matters. Public broadcasters must use taxpayers’ money responsibly.
But simply demanding that broadcasters do more with less is not a sustainable media policy.
A country cannot continually reduce the resources available for public-interest journalism while expecting the same breadth, quality and independence of coverage.
Public broadcasting is not just another business
The fundamental problem with treating RNZ purely as a financial liability is that public broadcasting exists for reasons beyond profitability.
RNZ provides independent journalism, political scrutiny, regional reporting, emergency information and coverage of cultural and social issues that commercial media may struggle to sustain.
Its value cannot be measured solely through a balance sheet.
Unlike a private company, RNZ has a public-service mandate. Its success should be judged not only by financial efficiency but also by the information, accountability and accessibility it provides to New Zealanders.
That does not excuse poor financial management. Rather, it makes accountability even more important.
When a commercial media organisation cuts jobs, the consequences are serious for its employees and audiences. When a national public broadcaster cuts approximately one-sixth of its workforce, the consequences can extend to the country’s democratic infrastructure.
Fewer journalists mean fewer opportunities to investigate government decisions, scrutinise powerful institutions and report on communities that receive little attention elsewhere.
In a small media market like New Zealand, those losses are particularly difficult to replace.
New Zealand needs a plan, not another round of cuts
The government should now answer several straightforward questions.
What is its long-term vision for RNZ and TVNZ? How does it intend to ensure public broadcasting remains financially sustainable? And how will it protect independent journalism as traditional media revenue continues to decline?
The previous Labour government’s merger proposal may not have been the right answer. But at least it placed the future structure of public broadcasting at the centre of political debate.
The National-led government has had the opportunity to develop a different model. Regulatory modernisation may help the wider media industry, but it does not resolve the fundamental question of how public broadcasting should be organised, funded and sustained.
RNZ’s immediate financial crisis requires independent investigation, stronger governance and credible financial management. The government also needs to consider whether additional transitional support could protect essential public services while those reforms take place.
Neither politicians nor senior executives should be allowed to escape accountability by presenting frontline job cuts as the inevitable solution.
There is a bitter irony in the current situation.
National spent years warning that Labour’s public media merger would be an expensive mistake. Now RNZ is facing a multimillion-dollar financial disaster, nearly 60 positions are on the chopping block, and New Zealand still lacks a convincing long-term settlement for public broadcasting.
The merger was cancelled. The problems remained.
And once again, it is journalists and other media workers who are being asked to pay the price.
New Zealand deserves something better than a choice between an expensive merger and endless cuts. It deserves a government willing to explain how public broadcasting can survive, rather than simply telling it to spend less.
