Mahuta Nanaia: State Sector Management Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mahuta Nanaia: State Sector Management Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Sitting date: 09 December 2010. Volume:669;Page:16286. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 I will take a brief call to ask some questions of the Minister in the chair the Minister of Internal Affairs with regard to Part 2 of the State Sector Management Bill. I hope he takes the opportunity to respond. 
The National Library has the largest collection of Maori language resources in the country and although the 2003 State Sector Act is not changed substantially by this bill the implication is that the organisational change in the bill may have a particular effect on how the National Library and the National Librarian currently operate. Te komitiMaori was established by the National Librarian in 1996. It advises the National Librarian on specific aspects of the Maori language collection. Also there are protocols for donors of collections to the National Library. It is unclear whether the role of te komitiMaori will be affected by this bill. The concerns I raise are in relation to specifically the Maori collection and whether the National Librarian will retain the responsibility outlined in the 2003 Act around kaitiakitanga preservation and the role of the collection. I also want to ensure that adequate advice will be given to the National Librarian in carrying out his or her functions because as I read the change the National Librarian will be dropped to a tier 3 type of role. The bill implies that the Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs may take on some of the responsibilities with regard to how te komitiMaori operates and clarification on that point would be useful. 
I also understand from the submission that was provided by te komitiMaori to the chief executive that it too has significant concerns about the way in which the restructure might affect it. Notably it believes that there could be a risk to the library’s national profile and position as a respected and trusted national institution responsible for the care of documentary and cultural heritage collections. It is also worried that there could be a reduction in the library’s capability and focus to carry out the purposes of the Act as they relate to kaitiakitanga taonga and mataurangaMaori. Specifically it could lead to an overall diminishing of current levels of effective library services to Maori and partnerships with Maori as these aspects are integral to providing quality librarianship and information management. 
I suspect that those comments were made because if a value-for-money exercise is being undertaken across the whole of the department it obviously will have effects across the departments under the umbrella of the Department of Internal Affairs and could lead whether directly or indirectly to a compromising of the emphasis on the Maori collection which te komitiMaori believes should be maintained. People cannot go anywhere else in the world to find a good Maori language collection except the National Library. Te komitiMaori wants to be sure that the emphasis and responsibilities outlined in the 2003 Act will be maintained and guaranteed despite the organisational change yet that is not clear. 
The Minister should take a call on these types of issues because I believe they are absolutely critical if we want to retain the integrity and esteem of the collections held within the National Library and the way in which they are managed for future generations. I understand from that same submission that there is a review of services to Maori within the National Library. It would be interesting to see how that review might or might not impact on further changes in this bill or indeed the principal Act. I am sure that the Maori Party would be concerned about any diminishing of emphasis on the Maori language collection held by the National Library. It would not as we would not want to see any diminishing of effort on that front. We believe that the collection is second to none.