Ronald Oldengarm against Radio New Zealand

Radio New Zealand published an article on November 27, 2024, headlined:  Bus and train fares may surge by up to 70% to meet NZTA targets.  

The story reported that Waka Kotahi NZ Transport requested councils to increase the private share of public transport costs. It also reported the reaction of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch councils.  Auckland reported its farebox recovery rate was expected to rise to just under 35 percent this year and “Environment Canterbury said its targets were 18 percent for the coming year, 25 percent from 2025-26, and 28 percent in 2026-27 - and it was currently at 13.9 percent.”

Transport Minister Simeon Brown was quoted as saying that “In 2017, public transport users contributed 40 percent of the operating costs, but by 2023 this had dropped to 10 percent”.

Ronald Oldengarm complained that Mr Brown used the 2023 figure of 10 percent.

“This is not accurate news and I feel is in bad faith, just to make public transport look expensive as Simeon Brown is not a fan of public transport. In 2023 fares were significantly reduced in price, e.g. half price in Wellington, so that's not a fair year to pick for a comparison.

He said RNZ should have called him out on this and mentioned this in the article.”

In response RNZ confirmed the Minister’s quote appeared to be at odds with comments made from two of the councils involved but have outlined that the thrust of the article was that bus and train fares are set to increase across the country with the transport agency asking councils to hit higher revenue targets…”

It added that if the Minister’s quote was contradicted by comments from local authorities, the reader would still have understood the thrust of the item.

The Media Council notes the complaint is really about the Minister’s use of what might be considered a misleading figure when he cited the 2023 figure of 10 percent. Mr Brown was not wrong, but his use of this figure clearly falls into the category of political rhetoric where numbers are often cherry picked to make an argument. Given that this was a quote of the Minister’s statement RNZ was entitled to accept it at face value, absent clear evidence that it was wrong.  There was no clear evidence that it was wrong, and indeed even now while the statement could have done with more context, it has not been established that the percentages were inaccurate.

While the Minister's sentence was not challenged directly RNZ deflected the point by running information from local authorities that presented very different and more up-to-date numbers. This ensured readers had a clearer and more useful picture of the situation councils faced and what fare increases may have to be levied.

Decision:  No grounds to proceed.