Speech notes for announcement of Government Funding for Rotorua Museum's Centennial Development Project. Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens. Rotorua

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It's good to be back at the Rotorua Museum for this "roof shout" function, celebrating progress on the redevelopment of the Museum.

This amazing heritage Bath House building recalls a time when New Zealand had only a fledgling tourist industry, and when the Bath House sought to attract overseas visitors with a combination of wealth and poor health !

In the peak of Rotorua's spa resort days, the Bath House offered baths, mud treatments, and other therapies to up to 80,000 people a year. It also provided a place of convalescence for New Zealand’s Defence Force personnel during the two World Wars.

Now, more than 100 years after the Bath House was built, this major makeover will see it in the full glory originally planned for back in 1902.

The Rotorua Museum Centennial Development project not only completes a magnificent heritage building. It also modernises the interior, expands the floor space, and will enable the Museum to do full justice to its collections.

Rotorua's geothermal nature gives this region a unique character, but it also poses challenges when we are trying to preserve fragile heritage items. Few other museum developments need to incorporate specialised controls to manage hydrogen sulphide levels !

Today we are celebrating progress on Stage 2 of the project, the north wing extension. My congratulations go to the Rotorua District Council, and to the Chair of the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust, Lyall Thurston, and other trustees, who have volunteered their time and expertise to the fundraising campaign.

This project has had tremendous support from the local community. From the Council and other major donors, to local businesses under the wing of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Clubs of Rotorua, to generous individuals, this is a community which has pitched in to restore, protect, and promote its precious local heritage.

Each year, 100,000 visitors come to the Museum to learn about the dramatic history of the Rotorua region. The refurbished Museum will tell many stories – from that of the catastrophic Tarawera eruption; to the B Company of 28 Māori Battalion’s engagement in World War II; to Te Arawa’s history in the region from its first arrival many centuries ago to its prominent role in all aspects of the district's life today.

The excellent job this Museum is doing is reflected in the five New Zealand Tourism Awards it has won since 2000, and in the recognition it received from the European Heritage Association at its “Best in Heritage” conference in 2002. I congratulate Greg McManus, the Museum’s Director, and his staff on their achievements.

The Rotorua Museum has close links with Te Arawa. It stands on land gifted by Ngati Whakaue, and it is the keeper of tāonga entrusted by the local iwi, hapû and whānau.

Tremendous support for the Museum has been provided by Te Pukenga Koeke o Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa, representing all the hapû of Te Arawa.

The new Te Arawa Gallery will enable the Museum to display more Te Arawa tāonga. It will also allow Te Arawa tāonga to be returned to Rotorua from other major institutions in New Zealand and around the world.

For me, being here today carries an extra significance given the settlements recently achieved between :

• the Crown and the Central North Island Iwi Collective; and
• the Crown and the iwi and hapu affiliated to Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa Trust.

Following the 2006 recognition of Te Arawa’s mana over Rotorua's lakes, these settlements put in place a new pathway to the future.

The Rotorua Museum is the repository of a unique heritage which reflects Rotorua’s involvement with key aspects of New Zealand history. As well as Te Arawa tāonga it has many other wonderful collections – from the photographic records of the long lost Pink and White Terraces, to Norma Evans’ collection of objects from everyday life over four generations, New Zealand artworks, and the sculptures of Charles Francis Summers. Colin McCahon and Goldie are also represented in the collection.

Early on in my term as Prime Minister, our government staked out its interest in seeing New Zealand's heritage and culture showcased and promoted. We believed that we should be able to partner regional museum and gallery projects with collections of nationwide significance. We established the Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects in 2001 to do just that.

Every proposal for funding is assessed carefully by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage against specific criteria. The Rotorua Museum redevelopment proposal is one we have been following the progress of for some time.

I have come to the Museum today to announce that our government will provide $7.5 million, over three years, to help fund Stage 3 of the Rotorua Museum’s redevelopment.

This funding is in addition to the support which has already been provided through the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board’s Environment and Heritage Committee.

Since its inception, and including this announcement, the Regional Museums Policy has provided $79.271 million (excluding GST) in funding support towards eleven museum redevelopment projects around New Zealand.

I am delighted that our government is able to contribute in this way to bringing the Museum up to the highest international standards for its visitors in the 21st Century. It is an extra benefit that this project also refurbishes the Bath House as one of our premier heritage buildings.

I congratulate everyone associated with the redevelopment to date, and wish you all the best for the full completion of the project.