Publications
Communiqué
Merger of Archives New Zealand and National Library with DIA
Issued: July 17, 2010 (PDF 73.3 KB)
This communiqué is to update members and other stakeholders on ARANZ Council’s recent activities in relation to the merger proposal.
On Wednesday July 7, the President, Treasurer and a Vice-president of ARANZ attended a meeting of the Integration Governance Group (1) .This was an opportunity to present our position directly to the group charged with implementing the merger instigated by the Government, and to discuss further involvement.
We made it clear that ARANZ’s position is one of fundamental opposition to the merger – for the reasons you have read in our previous position papers and other communications. We also highlighted the fact that Crown Law advice we have seen since our last position paper identified flaws in the original policy paper, implying that the merger proposal is based on a flawed understanding of the role of the Chief Archivist in particular. Crown Law advice also expressed concern about the employment relationship with a departmental CEO and advised that the Chief Archivist’s authority must not derive from, or be subject to, direction of the Department of Internal Affair’s CEO.
We re-iterated that our primary concern is that the independence of the Chief Archivist be assured, in practice as well as in legislation. In relation to this, we are seeking an independent employment relationship for the Chief Archivist (similar to that of the Ombudsman); that the Chief Archivist is able to report directly to Parliament on government recordkeeping; and that he or she has a professional recordkeeping/archival background.
The Governance Group assured us that a) there will be a separate vote for Archives New Zealand and b) the Chief Archivist will report directly to Parliament annually. They also stated that they believe that the work they are doing on structure, in combination with legislation and the presence of the Archives Council, will protect the independence of the Chief Archivist.
We have a commitment from the Governance Group to consult with ARANZ and other stakeholder groups over the structure of the new agency. Design principles and options will be released by the Group for consultation between August and the end of the year and we will take these opportunities to present written feedback and/or meet in person to discuss the proposals.
Meantime, the legislation amending the Public Records Act is expected to be presented in Parliament about the end of July. ARANZ will closely inspect this and make an appropriate submission. We also encourage all members to participate, wherever possible, in discussions on the proposed merger and to take opportunities to comment.
Council will continue to keep you informed of activities, both directly and through our website at:
News and Events: Archives New Zealand Restructuring
1. For more information about the Governance Group go to:
Released by the Council of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand
P.O. Box 11553
Manners Street
Wellington