BOOK LAUNCH: THE MOTHER OF ALL DEPARTMENTS

NATIONAL ARCHIVES
WELLINGTON

The American-born novelist Henry James once said that it takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.

Tonight when we are launching this new book from the Historical Branch of Internal Affairs we can reflect a little on New Zealand's histories and our literature.

We are a small, relatively new country.

But, our people read a lot.

We are in the very top rank as library users.

And we are heavy users of the Internet.

As a trading nation we will always have to live by our brains and our information systems.

I'm pleased to see that our premier writers' guild, PEN, has just passed the 800 mark with its membership.

Congratulations.

And it's pleasing too, to see, that there are more and more scholarships and awards for writers in all categories.

New Zealanders have won a deserved reputation for producing children's books.

And we have some of the best photographers in the world.

There is a pleasing number who study history, and many more who belong to regional historical societies.

The Department of Internal Affairs has always played a very important historical role in New Zealand society.

From the beginning it was in charge of the documents of national significance.

The first Colonial Secretary, Willoughby Shortland, was present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

When non-English Europeans such as Scandinavian, German and French settlers arrived in New Zealand, it was the Colonial Secretary's office that granted them citizenship.

The Colonial Secretary arranged visits to New Zealand for distinguished people, including royalty, after Queen Victoria's son visited in 1868.

Many of us here will remember The Queen's first visit in 1953-54, and her later visits so ably handled by Sir Patrick O'Dea, who is with us tonight.

There were other developments important to our nationhood which Internal Affairs handled.

By the late 19th Century the Colonial Secretary was granting passports to travelling New Zealanders.

They were called "British Passports" until 1965.

In the early days the long-suffering Governor had to sign each one personally, but that became an impossibility when most countries began to insist on passports about the time of the First World War.

Our foreign policy was also in the hands of the Colonial Secretary and then the Minister of Internal Affairs until after World War One.

It was not until 1926 that a separate Department of Foreign Affairs was established.

Internal Affairs had the job of interpreting to the wider world what it was to be a New Zealander.

The Department's historical significance grew in later years.

One of the interesting stories in Michael Bassett's book is about the way in which that most fertile of minds, Joe Heenan, who served as head of the Department from 1935-49, involved officials in literary affairs, and especially the writing of history.

Heenan argued that the writers should be kept together as a unit to work on various aspects of New Zealand's history.

Mary Boyd, Dame Janet Paul, Nan Taylor, Frances Porter and Bob Burnett, some of whom are with us tonight, formed the nucleus of the developing Historical Branch within the Department.

In 1946 it faded into the War History Branch under the command of that wonderful New Zealander, General Kippenberger.

Minus feet, often suffering terrible pain, but with unquenchable optimism, he managed the production of 50 substantial works of history that recorded all aspects of the war, both at home and abroad.

Some ground-breaking work had also been done by other historians with Joe Heenan's encouragement.

The late Ruth Ross charted the history of Russell.

The story of the Waipu settlers, many of whom had left Scotland for Cape Bretton Island in Canada in 1828 was written, much to the delight of that wily old Highlander, Peter Fraser.

In time, when the war histories were completed, the Historical Branch re-emerged, first under Ian Wards, then the late Jim Holt, then Ian McGibbon and now Jock Phillips.

All are mentioned in this book, which itself is a product of the Branch's later efforts to ensure that histories of all Government departments are written.

History is never the story of uninterrupted progress.

As this book shows, the Department hasn't always covered itself in glory.

In the early years of the century some of our most important constitutional documents that had been entrusted to the Department's care, the letters patent appointing Governor Hobson, and the more vital Treaty of Waitangi, were lost, although no one seems to have realised it at the time.

They were found in 1934 by an early archivist, Bill Goldsworthy, in a series of tin boxes in the Departmental safe.

Stunned by his discovery, he reported it to the Department head, telling him that he felt the news that the Treaty had been found ought not to be revealed, since no one seemed to know that it had been lost!

After Pearl Harbour there was a scare that the Japanese might invade New Zealand.

Joe Heenan took the precaution of despatching the Treaty to the Masterton Public Trust Office for safe-keeping.

However, no one seems to have warned the office about its important visitor.

The trunk sat in the hallway outside the Masterton office for some time until a grumpy official wrote to Heenan asking if he'd mind removing this obstacle.

In 1952 it was decided to produce a handbook for new settlers entitled "Sport and Recreation in New Zealand".

Amongst a lot of useful advice, the booklet said this: "Life probably moves at a more leisurely pace than in many of your countries - there is not quite the same struggle for existence, and our people have more time to enjoy themselves and to play in leisurely fashion for the fun of the game and social enjoyment, rather than to win".

In retrospect it sounds like a clarion call for couch potatoes.

The All Blacks clearly listened to a different call playing against Australia last Saturday in Melbourne.

For most of my political life I have been struggling to convince New Zealanders that lying back isn't a sure way to raise living standards, and that effort and competition are required.

To be fair, Internal Affairs was only reflecting the times.

In those days a great many people preached "steady as she goes".

It was a phase our country moved through.

The next generation paid dearly for it.

These days many New Zealanders are learning from experience that the way forward is to be energetic.

The abiding feeling that strikes me with this book is that Internal Affairs has enjoyed a rich history.

One function of the Department since the turn of the century has been housing Archives.

Collecting official papers has had its moments, as this history shows.

Finding space for the growing records was a constant problem.

At one stage they were stored in the Army Barracks at Mt Victoria; later in the basement of Police Headquarters, and much to the chagrin of clerks of the House, for many years in the basement of the old Parliament Buildings, too.

The problem wasn't really solved until Cabinet decided in 1989 to purchase this building which was no longer needed by Government Print.

The purchase came just in time, because an avalanche of paper was beginning to fall on Archives from SOEs and various privatised agencies.

New Zealand's archivists deserve great praise for their efforts to meet this challenge over the last decade.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is the stories of people that make history readable.

Since Michael likes writing biographies, he was well placed to give us pictures of some of the interesting characters who have presided over Internal Affairs, or affected its progress during its 157 year history.

This is another one of those histories from which, as Henry James said, a national literature finally emerges.

The Historical Branch deserves congratulations for commissioning the work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I now have much pleasure in launching a book about a department that has been vital in our country's history.

Ends