SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Official Information Request to Minister Rick Barker and Department of Internal Affairs

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10 May 2006

Official Information Request: 14 Questions

Attention:
Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Rick Barker
and the Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs, Mr Christopher Blake
Re: Appointment process involving eight vacancies on the Film and Literature Board of Review
Dear Sirs,
The Society’s national executive is seeking urgent answers to the following questions:
1. Why did it take the Minister 18 months before calling for nominations for the eight statutory positions on the Film and Literature Board of Review that became vacant on 31 May 2004?

More Questions (2-14)

2. In the light of the expiry date noted in Q.1: Why has it taken the Minister four months following the closing date of nominations for these eight positions, 21 December 2005, to make a decision to reappoint all eight members of the board, a decision first notified to the public by way of his press released dated 8 May 2006?
3. How many nominations were received by the Minister for these eight positions and how many of the the nominees were suitably qualified for consideration for the positions.
4. What was the nature and scope of the appointment process undertaken by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Minister in the consideration of those applicants nominated?  

5. How many meetings were held by the Department of Internal Affairs officials to seriously consider the suitability of those persons nominated for board positions and did the Minister attend any of these meetings – if so how many?
6. Were any of the persons nominated formally contacted by the Department and/or the Minister in order to acknowledge that their application/nomination were being considered, or for any other reason, and if so, how many and when?
7. Was a short list ever drawn up by Department officials and/or Minister of the most suitably qualified nominees and were any meetings held by the Department and/or Minister to discuss the persons on any short list created?
8. What was the nature and number of the meetings held between Mr Barker and the Ministers of Justice and Minister of Women’s Affairs over the applications involving nominated persons?
9. Does the Minister take the view that his statutory duties to apply the law (re the appointment process) are suspended during the period a select committee considers a bill that proposes changes to that law, and if so, why and on what legal basis?
10. Does the Minister take seriously his statutory duties under the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 to ensure that vacancies in the executive of the Office of Film and Literature Classification are filled, and if so why?
11. Why has the Minister not done anything about the fact that there has been a vacancy in the Office of Film and and Literature Classification since late September/October 2005, namely the position of Deputy Chief Censor of Film and Literature.?
12. On what, if any, legal basis, does the current Deputy Chief Censor Ms Nicola McCully, still hold office following the expiry of her term of office?
13. When does the Minister envision calling for nominations for the position of Chief Censor, currently held by Mr Bill Hastings, which becomes vacant later this year?
14. Does the law allow the Minister to reappoint eight board members so that they are able to hold the postion for a continuous period exceeding six years, as has been done with respect to five of the board members reappointed?
Yours sincerely
David Lane
(Secretary)
Mike Petrus (President)
Graham Fox (Vice President) 

Censors’ rehiring upsets watchdog

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The Dominion Post

May 9 2006 (p. A4)

By ANNA CHALMERS

The reappointment of a government censorship board has been met with dismay by a community watchdog, which has called the process a “sham”.

Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker announced yesterday that all eight existing members of the Film and Literature Board of Review would stay on.

But Society for the Promotion of Community Standards spokesman David Lane said the appointments contradicted the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act, which stipulated members could not serve on the board for more than six years.

After the reappointment of president Claudia Elliott till March 31, 2009, she, and other members, would have served up to nine years, Mr Lane said.

“It’s completely against the spirit of the law. This is just another rush decision by a minister who does not follow proper processes.”

Jobs for all but one of the nine members of the board expired in May 2004 after an initial three-year term. The Government has already come under fire for the two-year gap in reappointing members, or making replacements.

A spokesman for Mr Barker said the members’ term of office had been taken into consideration. “The department will have made the consideration against the legislative requirements. It would have been satisfied that it would have been okay for the minister to go ahead.”

The spokesman said reappointment delays had been caused by a review of the act, which included considering reducing board numbers, followed by the election last year.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3661743a11,00.html

Link to an announcement just made by the Minister’s office

see: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=25672

Deputy Chief Censor Vacancy and Minister’s Failure

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Press Release 3/05/06

The Society is calling on the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. Rick Barker, to replace the Deputy Chief Censor of Film and Literature, Ms Nicola McCully whose statutory position became vacant on 17 September 2005, over seven and a half months ago. The Minister has failed in his statutory duty to fill this position, having neither replaced her, removed her from office, nor re-appointed her. The Society contends that he has had more than sufficient time to do so since he became the Minister of Internal Affairs.

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Chief Censors’ denial of involvement in banning religious videos is proved false

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“Censors and Videotapes”
Letters to the Editor
The NZ Herald, 6/03/06

Chief Censor Bill Hastings says that columnist Jim Hopkins’ attempt at satire over South Park evaporates in the harsh light of truth because he did not ban religious videotapes to which Hopkins refers.

Hastings’ claim is disingenuous. He was largely responsible for writing the decision that resulted in the banning of the two videos (GayRights/Special Rights: Inside the Homosexual Agenda and AIDS: What You Haven’t Been Told) when he was the deputy president of the Film and Literature Board of Review, a statutory position he held before becoming Deputy Chief Censor in 1998.

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Demographic Data Sought Urgently on Chief Censor’s Office

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Media Release 3/02/06

The Society executive has requested the following information today from the Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, in an Official Information Request, marked “URGENT”. (1) Basic data on gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation for all those employed as classification officers, information unit and complaints officers in the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC); and (2) Basic data on the above demographics for members of the executive of the OFLC (Chief Censor and Deputy Chief Censor). The request notes:

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