Budget 2025: Funding cut for RNZ, minister issues 'trust' challenge

Thursday, 22 May 2025

Funding for RNZ will be slashed by $18 million over the next four years as part of Budget 2025, media minister Paul Goldsmith announced on Thursday.

It amounts to a $4.6m annual reduction in the broadcaster’s operating budget, or about 7% of its total budget of $67m.

Goldsmith said the cuts were justified after recent funding increases, including a $26m annual boost under the last Labour government in 2023 and a $7.3m annual bump three years prior.

In a press statement provided alongside the release of Budget 2025, Goldsmith touted the funding cut as a “savings initiative” and said it recognised that “government-funded media must deliver the same efficiency and value-for-money as the rest of the public sector”.

In other words, the broadcaster has been put on notice - and Goldsmith issued a challenge as well.

“I expect RNZ to improve audience reach, trust and transparency,” he said.

“I am confident the organisation can do so while operating in a period of tightened fiscal constraint.”

Earlier in the month, during a tense interview with Corin Dann on RNZ’s Morning Report, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters appeared to hint at the broadcaster’s funding being cut after taking issue with questions being asked.

There has been increased scrutiny of both trust in media and trust in Government in recent years, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same time, the media industry has faced significant headwinds here and around the world. Last year saw the unexpected closure of Newshub, which has since been replaced by the Stuff-produced ThreeNews bulletin.

There have also been a wave of cuts at outlets like the NZ Herald, while the short-lived Today FM radio station was dumped from the airwaves at the start of 2024.

RNZ is preparing to move its Auckland operations down the road into the office of TVNZ later in the year, potentially opening up room for further collaboration and cost-savings.

The decision to slash funding to RNZ wasn’t the headline announcement from the media minister, however, and was buried in the second half of a press statement titled “Investing in local journalism”.

That related to an increase in funding to expand regional reporting services Open Justice and Local Democracy, with $6.4m over four years to go towards council, community and court reporting across the country. That amounts to $1.6m in additional funding for local reporting services.

This funding, which is substantially less than the amount being cut from RNZ’s budget, will be distributed by NZ On Air.

“It will get funding into regional newsrooms so that more local frontline journalists can report on the things that matter to their audiences,” said Goldsmith.

RNZ board chairman Jim Mather said in a statement that the broadcaster was “naturally disappointed” with the funding cut.

Asked to comment on the funding adjustment to RNZ, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she believed the outlet would be “able to manage” the reduction in funding well.

The boost in funding for regional journalism would be “contestable across all media organisations”, noted Willis, meaning it would help support journalism at more than just RNZ.

Goldsmith acknowledged the media in New Zealand continued to face “significant challenges”, and hinted that further changes could be on the way in the form of a “media reform package” that the coalition government was considering.

“We need modern legislation, so the media sector is financially sustainable in the years to come,” Goldsmith said.

An update was expected in the coming months.

Victoria University associate professor, and vice-chairman of Better Public Media Trust, Peter Thompson said the RNZ cuts were robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“I'm very glad that the minister has recognised that open justice and local democracy reporting is important, but the fact that RNZ recently had increases - and to take that away - is preposterous.

“This kind of initiative is really a fig leaf covering up the fact that we have a massively underfunded public media, and we have a news media sector that is in crisis. And this will not solve the crisis. It's completely inadequate.”

The Government should instead increase funding for public media, by introducing a levy on digital advertising, Thompson said.

The RNZ cut also “seems like political retribution”, after Winston Peters’ earlier hinting at possible funding cuts.