Ogilvy Bernie: National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna MAtauranga o Aotearoa) Bill — Second Reading 
Ogilvy Bernie: National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna MAtauranga o Aotearoa) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4732] 
BERNIE OGILVY (United Future) 
: 
 I rise to support this second reading. As we have all just been told this bill replaces the old National Library Act and it tidies up some sections that we have all been very very interested in over time. A number of submissions to the bill supported extending deposits in the library to cover electronic deposits. This caused a lot of discussion as we were presented with different understandings. The committee recommended some changes to help the library cope with the influx that would occur. During the financial year of the National Library the chief executive informed the committee in December last year that although the library was ready it would still be quite a stretch if I remember the words. United Future nevertheless is a little sceptical that electronic content can be captured with ease which was the expression used. Given the shear scope of the published material available on the Internet not to mention the fact that much of it is constantly updated—and this is something I believe that the Minister made reference to—the bill envisages the library would only harvest web content that it wanted to archive but it obliges publishers to provide assistance to the library to read and to store information in both electronic and non-electronic form if required. The fact that on-line publishers will now have to comply with that requirement to submit material to the library and in a usable format will add a compliance cost to that particular industry. It would be wise in the coming years to review the policy of lodging electronic documents as people get used to it. 
We applaud the moves to exempt oral histories as someone else pointed out of past and present Ministers of the Crown from Official Information Act requests. Those oral memoirs are usually lodged under the proviso that they are not to be released until a certain amount of time has passed or sometimes until the persons are deceased. That enables contributors to speak frankly about their experiences but the threat of an Official Information Act request on such information in their official capacity as Ministers would seriously undermine the willingness of those involved in public life to record their histories in the first place particularly for those who are still active in their political careers. I know of one former Prime Minister who has regularly recorded his reminiscences over an extended period. That will be a fascinating source when it becomes available. We are pleased that the bill recognises the value of oral histories in building the complete picture of events in our nation’s lifetime. 
Over the last few years there has been some concern about the library’s collection policies—in particular the fact that it periodically weeds books from its general collection. However the Alexander Turnbull Library is dedicated to holding the library’s heritage collection and collects one copy of everything published via the legal deposit system. The National Librarian is also prevented from transferring the ownership of any documents without the approval of the Minister. 
Some of the submissions expressed fears about the bill specifying that the collections bequeathed to the Crown by Alexander Turnbull must remain in the custody of the National Library at all times. This would mean that the material would not be loaned. Fortunately the bill reaffirms the status of the Alexander Turnbull Library and ensures that its holdings are secure and are able to be loaned. 
There is a wider question to be answered about the place of the National Library. The library’s stated objectives include collecting maintaining and making accessible national collections of documents yet decisions on access to library resources lie with the hundreds of other libraries in the country which have the bulk of resources and determine how they will be used. Access to international resources is now direct—library to library—without any intermediary; even the National Library for instance. The combined collections staffing and expenditure in just some of the large public libraries in New Zealand such as Auckland Wellington Christchurch and Dunedin are far greater than those of the National Library. 
There is a danger or perhaps it may be an intention that the National Library could end up as a collection of last resort. United Future is concerned about the future of the National Library and its wonderful collections. We support this bill; we also make the suggestion that both the present and future Governments continue to think carefully about the future of that library and the ways in which it may best serve the citizens of this country.