Budget 2017: $10.1 million to preserve New Zealand’s documentary heritage

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne today announced funding of $8 million of operating funding over the next two years and $2.1 million of capital funding in the next year in Budget 2017 to safeguard New Zealand’s heritage collections and record of Government.

The funding will progress plans to increase storage capacity and resilience of Archives New Zealand’s Wellington repository. It will also advance plans for a shared Archives-National Library off-site storage facility, which will better preserve some National Library heritage collections held in older regional storage facilities.

“Our vast collections include important Government records, valuable documentary heritage, artwork, scientific data and taonga,” says Mr Dunne.

“Many New Zealanders use this information for wide-ranging purposes, including academic and genealogical research. In order to preserve this memory for future generations, we need resilient and cost-effective long-term storage facilities.

“Wellington’s Archives building is more than 50-years-old and will require significant upgrades to services and environmental control systems, to preserve material longer term. We know that demand for storage will continue to grow.

This funding supports the first stage of a major programme to upgrade our archival facilities. It will enable Government to identify and put in place long-term storage needs that will also provide the public greater access to valuable knowledge, collections and holdings.

“We need to preserve this history for future generations and this boost in funding will go a long way to ensuring that happens,” Mr Dunne said.