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Newspaper editors would resist codes that are enforced by health authorities on matters such as reporting suicides and food and alcohol issues, MPs were told yesterday.
The Commonwealth Press Union's media freedom committee (MFC) told Parliament's health select committee it was alarmed about the broad powers the Director-General of Health would have under the Public Health Bill.
The committee is hearing submissions on the controversial bill, aimed at updating public health legislation that is 60 years old.
"Our contention is simple," said CPU chairman and Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst.
"Editors fear that this bill as drafted will give the Director-General of Health the power to impose a code of practice on any matter deemed to be of interest to public healthcare policy makers.
"It could include the reporting of suicide, the issue of healthy foods, fatty foods, different lifestyles, alcohol and so on."
He said if the director-general could not get agreement from all sectors of the media, he or she could ensure the code was enacted by legislation after the prescribed three-year review of how the code was working.
"We are told this is not the intent of the bill and there is nothing for us to worry about. We don't doubt your goodwill, but we have no idea of the intentions of those who would follow you. Good law is law that is clear in its intent and, as we are seeing with the Electoral Finance Act, it becomes shambolic when the legalities are confused."
The legislation dealing with the director-general's powers were too loosely worded, Mr Pankhurst said.
"You will not get media co-operation when controls are enforced. In any case, imposition of codes will be very difficult if not impossible to police."
The CPU, which represents all the country's daily and Sunday newspapers, had shown that with terrorism protocols and its work on suicide reporting with the Health Ministry and Associate Minister of Health Jim Anderton it was responsible and willing to engage positively when codes were voluntary, Mr Pankhurst said.
He said the parts of the legislation that the CPU objected to should be redrafted "so there is no suggestion the Director-General of Health has coercive powers over the media".
CPU secretary Lincoln Gould said editors were worried about the "latent powers" in the bill that might be used by future governments.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said that while the CPU favoured self-regulation, that had been clearly shown not to have worked in other areas, citing tobacco.
But Mr Gould said tobacco was not a self-regulated area.
- NZPA
