Merger 'won't work', archivist says

Dunedin archives advocate John Timmins is "totally unconvinced" by a Crown Law view that the country's chief archivist will become more independent through a controversial merger involving Archives New Zealand.

The Government plans to merge Archives New Zealand, a Government department responsible for all government record-keeping and community archives, into the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) later this year.

Archives advocates say key constitutional issues are at stake and they are seriously concerned about the future of the country's archives.

Their worries include the chief archivist's ability to maintain independent monitoring of record-keeping by government departments.

The Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (Aranz) says the proposed merger is a damaging backwards step, given that national archives had earlier been removed from the DIA in 2000 after "an unfortunate history, characterised by arrested development, lack of resourcing, poor understanding, litigation, rancour and distrust".

In a recent submission to the parliamentary education and science select committee, Aranz also said the chief archivist and national librarian would be reduced from chief executives of their own departments to "third-tier-level" managers who were not even part of the DIA executive leadership team.

The select committee is due to report back to Parliament on November 24.

A recent Crown Law opinion, obtained under the Official Information Act by the Otago Daily Times, states that the proposed merger "increases the level of statutory independence enjoyed by the chief archivist".

The opinion adds that "it would not be lawful for the chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs to interfere with the chief archivist and the national librarian's performance of their statutory duties".

A spokesman for Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy, who is also the minister responsible for Archives New Zealand and the National Library, said the Crown Law opinion independently confirmed the minister's view that statutory protections enjoyed by the chief archivist and of national archives would be upheld after the merger.

Asked about concerns that the chief archivist's effectiveness would be reduced, including access to government ministers, the spokesman said Mr Guy met the head of Archives New Zealand regularly and meetings with the head of national archives would continue after the restructuring.

Mr Timmins, a former Aranz president who was re-elected to the national post in August, said he was "totally unconvinced" by the Crown Law view and believed there was "no evidence" to support it.

The chief archivist at present headed a government department, but much of this clout in dealing with other departmental heads over important record-keeping issues would be lost by the downgrading of the post.

"It won't work," he said.

He noted the merger had been strongly opposed in public submissions to the select committee, and two former chief archivists, Ray Grover and Kathryn Patterson, had also voiced grave concerns.

- john.gibb@odt.co.nz