Professional Historians Alarmed by Downgrading of Chief Archivist and National Librarian Roles

The Government’s announcement that Archives New Zealand and the National Library will be merged with Internal Affairs is a wrongheaded decision that threatens the future of Kiwi history, says the Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa (PHANZA).

Under the proposed merger it is inevitable that the Chief Archivist and the National Librarian will become second- or third-tier divisional heads, losing the ear of the Minister. They will also lose control of their own budgets and be subject to the priorities of the Department of Internal Affairs. ‘What part of their independence is guaranteed in such an arrangement?’, asks PHANZA spokesperson Susan Butterworth of Wellington.

‘It is scarcely five years since the new Public Records Act was passed after a bitter decade-long battle, and now its most important guarantee of freedom from political and bureaucratic interference is to be shot away’, Butterworth adds. ‘Public records are a bulwark of a modern democracy. They are not dead, dusty papers, but the means by which government action can be scrutinised and held to account.’

‘The Chief Archivist is tasked with creating and monitoring standards for record management, both paper and digital, in central and local government. This includes deciding what may be disposed of and how records are to be made available to the public. New Zealand has had a sorry history of public records being destroyed either deliberately or through neglect because they were not valued. What message about their importance is sent by this perverse downgrading of the status of Archives New Zealand?’

‘For its part, the National Library is a keystone of the knowledge economy as New Zealand’s principal repository of private papers, images and oral history’, said Susan Butterworth. ‘At a time when the Library is already under pressure due to its building redevelopment project, this merger threatens further disruption for historians and others who rely on the Library’s services.’

‘The supposed financial savings are derisory and the other pretexts offered are silly. Is it a coincidence that this move has been made when the Chief Archivist’s position is vacant and the National Library is closed for refurbishment? All in favour of freedom of information, democratic accountability and the knowledge economy say, “Yeah, right!”’

PHANZA was set up in 1994 to represent professional historians, both within and outside academic institutions. It currently has more than 100 members throughout New Zealand.

ENDS

© Scoop Media