1810 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE NO. 91

should be directed to the Stock Exchange whose position we do not
accept was in all the circumstances a reasonable one.

We note that there was no objection from any shareholder or any
other person to this proposed amendment.

The existing conditions 4 (d) and 4 (e) will be deleted and the
new condition restricting news media ownership will be imposed
as 4 (d) in the form applied for.

Dated the 30th day of March 1984.

Signed for the Tribunal:

B. H. SLANE, Chairman.

Decision No. 10/84
COM 7/83

Before the Broadcasting Tribunal

In the matter of the Broadcasting Act 1976, and in the matter of
a complaint by D. H. F. GREEN on behalf of the Nelson Harbour
Board:

Warrant Holder—BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND
(Television New Zealand):

Chairman: B. H. Slane.

Members: L. R. Sceats, A. E. Wilson, N. L. MacBeth, P. J. Downey.

Appearances: G. R. Rowe for Broadcasting Corporation of New
Zealand. D. H. F. Green for Nelson Harbour Board.

DECISION

This complaint arises from an item broadcast by TV1 in the 7 p.m.
regional news on 30 March 1983. The script read as follows:

Announcer: A long-running row between the Nelson Harbour
Board and local yachties looks set to continue for at least another
month. The Board had given the boaties until tomorrow morning
to get out of the harbour, but it seems the yachtsmen have had a
reprieve, as (reporter) reports.

Reporter: For the dozen or so Nelson yachties who've chosen to
live permanently on board their boats, life hasn't been plain sailing
lately. Although they pay $50 a month to moor here in a basin
known as the Mud Hole, they've no facilities, no showers, no toilets,
no running water on shore. They've complained to the Harbour
Board, but the only response came as an eviction order. They were
told to move out by tomorrow morning. The yachties claim they
had nowhere safe or convenient to go, and they vowed to fight the
Board.

Richard Farley: Well, everybody here's very upset, and at this
stage, it could possibly be a confrontation with the Harbour Board,
although that's the last thing we want. And we've done our best.
We've approached the management, we've approached as many
people as we can to get decisions, not necessarily reversed, but at
least some rational discussion on it, and to come and see us and
get our point of view.

Reporter: Well, it now looks like they'll get that chance for a
rational discussion. For the Board's given them another month's
extension, and they can argue their case before a full meeting of
the Harbour Board in the middle of April.

Mr D. H. F. Green, Assistant General Manager and
Secretary/Treasurer of the Nelson Harbour Board lodged the
complaint on behalf of the Board. He alleged that the statement by
the reporter to the effect that the Harbour Board's only response
was an eviction order (paragraph 3) was untrue. The Board asked
TV1 to "issue a statement to the effect that the yachties were not
served with an eviction order but given notice to move, and that
TV1 regrets any inference that the Nelson Harbour Board responded
to complaints by requiring yachties to move."

The news item complained of was filmed during the visit to Nelson
of a Wellington based reporter and a local camera crew to film the
formal opening of a cement-loading installation. The reporter had
telephoned the Harbour Board the previous day to inform the general
manager, Mr F. S. Baldwin, that TV1 would be covering this
ceremony. At the hearing the reporter said, "Towards the end of
the phone call I mentioned the fact that I would also be doing a
story on the controversy between the Board and the local yachties.
There had been a long-running debate in the local newspapers over
the mooring rights of the yachtsmen and the Board's attempts to
move them from their present site."

Mr Baldwin declined to appear on television to discuss the issue.
He warned the reporter to check any statements made by "the
yachties", and, he says, he suggested that the reporter should
approach the Board's chairman, Mr R. A. Fletcher, if he wanted
any statement from the Board on the issue. Mr Baldwin's and the
reporter's recollection of this part of the conversation differ. The
reporter got the impression that neither Mr Baldwin nor Mr Fletcher,
nor anyone else from the Harbour Board, wanted to be quoted on
the topic. Furthermore, he cannot recall anything he said which
would give Mr Baldwin the impression that, unless he agreed to
appear on film, the Board's side of the story would not be presented.

Mr Green wrote to Television New Zealand on 12 April quoting
from the transcript of the news item (about the response to
complaints being an eviction order—paragraph 3) and asking to be
advised on what grounds the reporter made the statement. A reply
before 21 April—the date of the next meeting of the Board—was
sought.

The Wellington regional editor of the Corporation replied on 15
April stating "The grounds for the reporter's statement were
contained in information by yachtsmen moored in the basin referred
to in the item. The reporter had informed the editor that he
approached a Board executive for its view of the yachtsmen's
situation but was rebuffed. Had such a view been available it would
of course have been included in the item."

On 21 May the following news item was prepared for the TV1
programme Today Tonight:

Nelson's community of 'live on board' yachties will definitely
have to leave the port by the end of the month.

The yachties were told to ship out after a long-standing fight
with the Harbour Board to keep their permanent moorings.
The Harbour Board says Nelson doesn't have proper facilities
for house boats.

And they say the mud hole area where the yachties are moored
was designed for marine industry and not domestic use.

In future cruising yachts will be able to stay in the port for
no more than a month unless they get special permission for
refitting their boats over a longer period.

This item was seen, and approved, by the regional editor during
the process of preparing the programme. Later, however, without
his knowledge or approval, the item was dropped from the
programme due to other material running over time.

On 22 April Mr Green wrote as follows:

"The General Manager of the Nelson Harbour Board confirms
that he received an approach by telephone to be interviewed
on television on the subject of yachtsmen moored in the basin.
The General Manager declined the invitation to be interviewed,
advised the caller that he could approach the Board's
Chairman, Mr R. A. Fletcher for interview and further advised
that the interviewer should ensure that he has got his facts
right. I know of no further approach to Executives of my Board
on this issue.

"Your reporter has stated that my Board's response to complaint
about lack of facilities in the shape of showers, toilets, running
water, etc., has been an eviction order.

"The statement is quite untrue on 2 counts, firstly my Board
resolved primarily to give notice to those persons with yachts
moored in the slipway basin as a result of a report to the
Board on the subject of congestion in the slipway basin.
Secondly, there has not been an eviction order which I certainly
understand to be a process through the courts. Boat owners
were given notice by the Harbourmaster to move their vessels
and I enclose a copy of said notice for your information, which
is, I suggest, scarcely compatible with the comments made by
your reporter.

"I am instructed by my Board to advise you that my Board
requires that you withdraw the statement made by your
reporter through the same medium as the original statement
was made.

"My Board will wish to discuss the terms of such a withdrawal
statement and be agreeable thereto before regarding this matter
as closed."

The Harbourmaster's notice read as follows:

"I require you to cease berthing your vessel in the slipway basin
with effect from 0800 hours 25 March 1983.

"The Board's boat harbour has a limited number of moorings
available, however under the by-laws, living aboard a vessel
within the boat harbour is not permitted.

"Alternatively, if you should wish to live aboard your vessel, then
Mr A. Bryant, the Board's small craft supervisor, will arrange
an area within the harbour in which you will be permitted to
lay your own open mooring."

The Harbour Board decided, on 5 July, to make a formal
complaint to the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand. The
Corporation replied as follows on 11 July:

"The members of the Broadcasting Corporation considered the
formal complaint you made on behalf of the Nelson Harbour
Board about a Today Tonight item, dealing with yachtsmen,
at their meeting on 5 July. The complaint was examined against
subsection 24 (1) (d) and (e) of the Broadcasting Act 1976. They
refer to the need to have regard to (d) the accurate and impartial
gathering and presentation of news according to recognised