Ministry for Culture and Heritage Annual Report 2007
Chief Executive
A strong sense of cultural identity is important to individual, community and national success – and our work at the Ministry helps achieve such success. This 2006/07 Annual Report reflects another busy year for the organisation, as we continue to play our part in making New Zealand culture visible and accessible.
The technologies of the 21st century are having a significant effect on the lives of New Zealanders. We are enthusiastic participants in the digital world, where the content of what we see on the screen of our television, computer or mobile phone – for example – can be created a hemisphere away and yet is instantly available to us.
As Chief Executive of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, I value the opportunities these new technologies provide. I believe, though, that in an environment where it is so easy to access cultural content from other countries, it is imperative that the ‘New Zealand option’ is available and attractive.
Here at the Ministry we undertake our work in the service of the government of the day. But everything we do – policy development, monitoring of other agencies, and the production of goods and services – is informed by an ongoing commitment to that New Zealand option, and to the benefits of exposure to, and participation in, our culture.
In some instances, the technologies that give us that instant access to global products also give us access to better understanding of the culture of our own country. This year, policy work towards digital television, and the websites Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, NZLive.com and NZHistory.net.nz, all demonstrate how we have used technologies to support New Zealand culture and identity.
Culture doesn’t have to be served up in bytes, of course. When I consider the work of the Ministry in 2006/07 I think also of the New Zealand Memorial in London, dedicated on Armistice Day 2006, which is already a focus for remembrance and commemoration. I think of the heritage properties and precincts in New Zealand that benefit from our promotion of enhanced policies and legislation; of the New Zealand Film Commission, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the other important cultural organisations whose government funding we channel and monitor; of the history books we produce; and of the museums we support through indemnification and capital works schemes.
As this Annual Report and, more comprehensively, the associated web document ‘The Year in Review’ (www.mch.govt.nz/about/year-in-review.html) make plain, this organisation undertakes its work on a large number of fronts.
The impact of this work is dependent on the talents and efforts of the dedicated people at the Ministry – I am very grateful to them all, and very proud of the contribution they make to New Zealanders’ sense of themselves and their culture.
Background – Meeting Our Accountability Obligations
This report is one part in the suite of information and resources about the Ministry and its performance. Key information about who we are and what we do is available on the Ministry’s web site ( www.mch.govt.nz). Our Statement of Intent setting out the future directions and priorities is also available on that site. We have kept the content of this printed Annual Report to a minimum. Further details, images and other information about the Ministry’s 2006/07 story are presented in a digital form at www.mch.govt.nz/about/year-in-review.html.