Ashley Church: The courage to question compliance

How rules survive long after reason has left the building

Yesterday I pulled into a major-brand service station to fill the tank in my car. (and yes, before anyone asks, I had remembered to arrange a mortgage first).

So there I was, standing beside the pump, doing what most of us now do in those awkward few minutes while liquid gold trickles into the tank, when a female voice suddenly boomed across the forecourt.

Peter Williams: Why the BSA is irrelevant

Regulation is stifling a free society

I spent nearly five decades in the New Zealand broadcasting industry, most of it when the world was very different. They were times when a national radio network of frequencies was a hard won and expensive privilege, and the evening television news bulletins genuinely captured the country.

In that environment, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) had a role to play. We accepted oversight because the airwaves were tightly controlled, the audience was captive, and with great privilege came great responsibility.