Internal Affairs Structure Confirms Worst Fears

The final decision on the future structure of the Department of Internal Affairs has confirmed that the Chief Archivist and National Librarian will be third tier managers, leaving these important institutions with reduced independence and influence, Labour State Services Spokesperson Grant Robertson says.

The changes follow the proposed merger of Archives New Zealand and the National Library into DIA.

"The Chief Archivist and National Librarian are now employees of the Chief Executive of DIA, so they have lost their independence in that sense. Despite keeping their statutory roles, they will now have no guarantee of direct contact with Ministers, no role in the executive leadership team and no direct reporting on their organisations to Parliament."

"This represents a downgrading of these institutions. In the case of Archives New Zealand their role in ensuring deposit and retention of government records provides the ultimate accountability mechanism for government. They need independence and direct contact with Ministers to do this job properly.

"The National Library is also a key part of our democratic infrastructure. It also looks after the Alexander Turnbull Library, the status of which is diminished by these decisions.

"The truly silly thing is that Archives New Zealand was part of DIA in the 1990s and that was a catastrophic failure that led to court action and the loss of valuable records. It is crazy to be repeating that mistake when both Archives and the National Library are operating well in their current form and have been described by the government itself as well regarded and high functioning organisations."

"The government has failed to provide a good reason for this merger. It should not be going ahead, but if it is hell bent on the idea it needs to do better to ensure the independence and influence of the two organisations,” Grant Robertson said.

ENDS

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