Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this event.

I'd like to acknowledge the Rt Hon Helen Clark, who, as Prime Minister, has articulated a strong vision for the arts and New Zealand's national identity, an outcome of which we are celebrating here today.

I would also like to thank Chief Archivist and Chief Executive of Dianne Macaskill, Auckland Archivist Mark Stoddart, and the many Archives New Zealand staff who have worked so hard to have this building open on time and on budget, and acknowledge Sophie Te Paea Muru who is representing King Tuheitia here today.

This is a proud day for all of us and a proud day for me as both the Minister responsible for Archives New Zealand and as Minister responsible for Auckland issues.

In this year, 50 years since the passing of the Archives Act 1957, it is fantastic to see a grand new building for Archives New Zealand built here in Auckland. A new building that will mark Archives New Zealand's presence in Auckland for at least another 50 years.

Without doubt there was a tremendous need for this new building and I am pleased to acknowledge the repository has been built on time and within budget.

I am sure all staff and researchers, archivists, genealogists and visitors who come here will appreciate these pleasant surroundings. Importantly we all appreciate knowing that the archives are kept in a climate controlled environment – secure for now and protected for the future.

What we are celebrating here today is all the hard work of many many people and I want to acknowledge all those who have been involved – including staff, mana whenua, architects, planners and contractors. Thank you all.

This has been a tremendous project and one involving careful planning and foresight.

Archives New Zealand Auckland office was previously located on Mt Wellington Highway. While additional land was available at the rear of the building the inadequate storage conditions and rising rentals, made a new archive a necessity.

Government funding for the new building was first approved in 2004. But finding this site was difficult and the time it took caused some consternation as the lease on the old building was fast running out. Some nine sites were considered before this one was purchased in September 2005.

Site work started in July 2006 and the building was officially completed in July 2007. The one year construction period for this building was very tight, but ensured the move was made before the old lease expired. This is a great success story.

The move

Over 200,000 archives boxes, 28,000 maps, plans and architectural drawings and 137 drawers of photographs and negatives were moved here, in only 36 days. This is an amazing story of efficiency and innovation.

Innovation

While all the loose volumes were boxed to provide them better protection during the actual move and the boxes were bar coded, most importantly all the shelves were moved here complete with archives.

Traditionally moves like these involve finding temporary storage for all the archives while the shelves are taken apart, moved to the new site and then reassembled. With time running out on the old lease the pressure was on – calling for innovative and creative ideas, which the team at Archives delivered.

The upshot of this saw the use of steel frames to move the 187 shelving units intact with records remaining on the bottom six shelves. Each shelf unit was supported in a frame and then lifted onto a mobile trailer.

These frames had to provide necessary structural support, support the shelving weight and the all the records. An impressive total weight of some 4-5 tonnes.
This achievement was no mean feat of engineering and no doubt this good old kiwi ingenuity will be put to good use in other moving projects.

Working from 7.00 in the morning to 7.00 at night moving the stacks was achieved within a very tight timeframe. To make matters worse this was during the school holidays and the wettest months of the year.

I have been told work was only stopped twice. Once due to weather – a tornado threat - and once one Saturday everyone finished early to ensure the Warriors got the support they needed at nearby Mt Smart stadium.

Moving here involved the staff completing a Site Safe course so they could enter this building when it was still a construction site. In addition to the move of the archives, staff organised the office move which involved 1600 Transit boxes being moved here. Staff also packed up all their own desks. And while there were no prizes for the person with the most boxes I hear these ranged from eight to 50 plus.

This new archive has a storage area of 4500 square metres and importantly it was designed to comply with storage standards with archival documents.

I am pleased to announce the former Auckland Provincial Government archives and Agent General Auckland archives will be transferred to the Auckland office now that storage conditions comply with Archives New Zealand’s storage standard.

The Auckland regional office covers the old Auckland Provincial Government region, basically the northern half of New Zealand.

I am sure this move will generate a lot of interest from the Auckland research community and help fill gaps within other Auckland Heritage collections. Over 100 years have passed since these records were held in Auckland.

After the abolition of the Provinces the Auckland Provincial Government records were sent to Wellington. They were then lost until 1955 when they were rediscovered under the stairs of the old Government Buildings. They have been in safe keeping in the Archives New Zealand Wellington repository since then.

Unfortunately these records are not complete. A fire in the 1872 Provincial Government Buildings in Auckland burnt most of the superintendent’s records, but the records of the provincial treasurer survived. Detailed listings of the holdings can be found on Archway, the online search facility for Archives New Zealand.

These records tell some interesting stories including gold mining in Thames, and the early days of land surveying. I am sure they will add a great deal of interest to all the records held here.

This new archive for Auckland is a tremendous achievement for everyone involved. Congratulations to you all.
Thank you.