Parliament protest for Concert
A crowd of RNZ Concert supporters who parked themselves outside of Parliament to celebrate the station and protest for its future received an apology from a politician over the ordeal.
Yesterday, thousands of listeners made their way to Parliament to celebrate the station’s 87th birthday, hear live classical performances and hear from politicians and entertainers about the importance of the station.
RNZ was met with backlash when it recently announced that it intended to move Concert FM’s frequency to a new youth-oriented music channel. The plan included a raft of changes, such as turning Concert into a fully automated service and axing all of the station’s presenters before its chief executive, Paul Thompson, withdrew the proposal.
Speaking to the crowd, Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson said the only proposals Government were interested in were ones that built on the strengths of Concert FM.
He apologised to the station’s supporters.
‘‘All generations of New Zealanders deserve to have commercially free, ad-free options.’’
The Government wanted to work with RNZ Concert supporters and the country would ‘‘continue to have Concert FM we can be incredibly proud of’’, he said.
Wellington Mayor Andy Foster also spoke at the event, calling RNZ Concert a ‘‘shop window’’.
It was a place where emerging artists could get exposure and where presenters could share their knowledge.
The Topp Twins, MCs for the event alongside Wellington Paranormal’s Karen O’Leary, said they believed that RNZ Concert should stay forever.
‘‘If we lose things like this, then we lose the arts.’’
The assurances supporters had received, so far, had been sketchy and what people wanted was certainty – not hope, they said.
Three people who turned up to show their support were Xavier Krause and Esiteri Narawa, both 18, and 17-year-old Ben Prendergast.
Krause said RNZ Concert had been going on for so long and the proposal to change the station was cruel.
The trio are part of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir and Prendergast said that he had heard about the choir through the station.
‘‘It’s a major influence.’’