Chadwick Steve: State Sector Management Bill — First Reading 
Chadwick Steve: State Sector Management Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:13700] 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour) 
: 
 The previous speech was made by Wayne Mapp a Minister who understands his portfolio. It was pleasing to hear him endorse Labour’s spokesperson David Shearer with his support—not so much his concern—for the amalgamation of the Foundation for Research Science and Technology into this new organisation. That is not the aspect of the State Sector Management Bill that Labour is opposed to; our greatest concern with this bill is the merger of Archives New Zealand and the National Library into the Department of Internal Affairs. 
When the Minister of State Services Tony Ryall came into the House today and spoke very quickly in a very quiet moderate voice people would have thought that this bill was absolutely inconsequential quite dry and dusty and with no impact on front-line services. From the Minister’s point of view it was just about an obvious merger. Far from it. It is quite ironic that today we have had a ministerial statement in the House on the Canterbury earthquake which we are all concerned about. Government members opposite when in Opposition went around the country ranting about a bloated bureaucracy. Yet today here they are thanking front-line public servants in Canterbury for their initial response in working with local government down in Canterbury to help remedy the dreadful situation that people are in. So the “bloated bureaucracy” which this Government is determined to stamp out is ironically the very bureaucracy and Public Service that is helping in Canterbury today and doing such a brilliant job. 
From our point of view this bill is certainly not a dry dusty and inconsequential bill. In fact it goes to the heart of New Zealand’s national identity. In 2000 only a decade ago after a review of the Department of Internal Affairs we separated out the National Archives and the National Library as stand-alone entities with their own autonomy. We think it is very important that that review be revisited. There is absolutely no justification for the merger other than the determination of this Government to supposedly improve services within existing baselines reduce costs in the short to medium term and future-proof the long-term delivery of Government services. 
We cannot find any justification for why the Department of Internal Affairs is now going to subsume the independence of Archives New Zealand and the National Library. It is a pity to do so just in the name of efficiency and short-term cost saving. The actual cost savings are only $165000 a year and 15 jobs will go. Those jobs are not inconsequential. They are done by 15 people with specialist skills both in the National Library and in Archives New Zealand not just by bureaucrats pushing paper. Those jobs will go. 
This is a cost-cutting exercise we are really concerned about. It is a step backwards for transparency and democracy. I was really concerned when Grant Robertson talked about trying to get access through the Ombudsman to find out why this legislation was necessary. Access to that information has been blocked from the very Government that talks about transparency. 
This bill is about pure ideology. It is a rant against the Public Service that says we can get greater efficiency gains. If the Minister opposite had really thought about this bill why did he not talk to the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage? The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has the archival component of heritage in film. The Film Commission and Peter Jackson have been showing concern about the Film Archive so why did they not just bung that in as well for efficiency? That organisation is crying out for reform. That was not even considered by this Government which shows that the two Ministers do not talk. 
The Minister of State Services said that this merger was because of technological advances and that it was now easier to put the two together. We are concerned that by doing this just a decade after a massive change to the National Library and the Archives New Zealand those organisations are on a political whim being put back into the Department of Internal Affairs. 
We are concerned about the role of the Chief Archivist. This role needs legislative independence. We have no confidence given the provision that the Chief Archivist has to report to the Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs that that independence will be protected. That aspect will be looked at during the Committee stage. 
When the National Library was administered by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of Education before Labour separated it out the National Library struggled to have a voice. It did not have a voice at all. The separation allowed protection for what we deemed to be an iconic institution: the Alexander Turnbull Library. But it does not matter now! The Minister now says that we can put them all together that we should not worry about the iconic status of the Alexander Turnbull Library! We should not worry about the independence of the Chief Archivist that that will be sorted out and will be a second-tier or third-tier position within the Department of Internal Affairs! Labour is very concerned about the operational efficiency of those roles especially in terms of the protection of our history which is a very vital role for us in terms of maintaining our national identity. 
I too mention that the consultation on the development of this bill was very very limited. That was of great concern. Organisations could respond only once they heard of the proposed merger of the National Library and Archives New Zealand into this omnibus department the Department of Internal Affairs where this Government thinks it can put disparate entities together. The professional historians of New Zealand have said that under this merger it is inevitable that the Chief Archivist and the National Librarian will become second-tier or third-tier divisional heads losing the ear of the Minister. 
I wonder whether the Minister Nathan Guy can give us the assurance that those positions will still be able to report directly to the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Minister has his head down; he obviously has no idea where those very very important roles sit within the current department and what part of their independence is guaranteed under this new relationship. The New Zealand Society of Authors put it absolutely correctly when it said: “If it’s not broken then don’t fix it”. Tony Simpson the president of the society said: “Research facilities are not only important to historians and writers of historical fiction but also to the protection of New Zealand history. It is crucial that the integrity of New Zealand’s research facilities be maintained and we are concerned that through this merger Archives New Zealand will lose its autonomy which would jeopardise its objectives with serious consequences for freedom of speech.” 
Labour shares the view of the Greens today. I do not call this measure a new dawn at all. There is no justification for it other than political rhetoric and another tirade against the Public Service. There was no justification. Labour will vote against this bill for the reasons that all the speakers in the Labour team have outlined today. Thank you.