General Elections 2023

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The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023

Increased Access to Live Leaders’ Debates Secured for the Deaf Community and NZSL Users

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Media Release - 5 September 2023

Access for the Deaf community to view TVNZ 1’s three live debates for the 2023 General Election has been secured with the announcement that NZ On Air will provide funding to Deaf Aotearoa to provide New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) interpreters.

The NZ On Air funding will come from the $10m additional funding allocated to NZ On Air in Budget 2023 to better serve under-represented audiences.

TVNZ 1 will broadcast two Leaders’ Debates between Labour and National on 19 September and 12 October, and the Multi-Party Debate on 5 October. All three debates will be broadcast live on Kordia Ch200 in a reverse Picture-in-Picture format, with the NZSL interpreter in full screen, and the political leaders and moderator being shown in the smaller Picture-in-Picture, providing the Deaf community and NZSL users with clear access to the debates in NZSL.

TVNZ Live Debates with NZSL

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TVNZ will host five live election debates during the election campaign, all live streamed on 1News.co.nz.

The first live Leaders' Debate will take place between Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon on September 19 at 7pm on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+.

It will be moderated by Political Editor Jessica Mutch McKay and will be the first time voters get to see the leaders of the country's two main parties going head-to-head in a primetime debate.

Accessibility

Live captioning for Debates broadcast on TVNZ 1 and Election Night will be provided by Able, TVNZ's accessibility partner.

In partnership with Deaf Aotearoa, a New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) interpreted version of both Leaders Debates and the Multi-Party Debate will be broadcast live on Kordia channel 200.

This programme will offer Picture in Picture (PIP), with experienced interpreters shown as the primary image on screen alongside TVNZ 1's live coverage.

Signed Debates will be available on TVNZ+ after the broadcast has concluded. These debates will also be provided on Deaf Aotearoa's website, giving viewers' choice and control over how they participate.