E nga iwi, e nga mana, tena koutou.

Good morning everyone and thank you Dianne for your warm welcome. It's a pleasure to be at your staff meeting today and to hear your waiata.

Last month I was here to meet members of the Archives Council and in January I had a most informative tour of the archives. It's good to be back.

My visit included the Impressive Silence exhibition. I was particularly struck by the differences between the official and unofficial war photographs; I viewed the Treaty of Waitangi; found out a great deal about digitisation and went down into the stacks.

This is a remarkable storehouse. I am hugely impressed with the job you all do to manage, store and maintain the accessibility of archival information.

During my visit I was fascinated by the HMNZS Achilles log book. This was open at the pages in December 1939 when the Achilles was despatched to assist HMS Exeter and HMS Ajax engage in action with the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee.

In this first decisive naval encounter of World War Two four New Zealand ratings on board Achilles were killed and three were seriously wounded.

Seeing the original record of this event was a moving experience. This is what records have the power to do. They are an account made without discrimination. These records tell us of times past, times of sacrifice and hardship.

Today it is clear that we face a very different set of challenges. The economic outlook both here and overseas is declining dramatically. World economic growth this year could be the weakest since the Second World War.

New Zealand faces falling growth rates, lower commodity prices, falling demands for our exports and rising unemployment.

For many in the public sector this is the first time these kinds of economic challenges have been faced. All Ministers have been given a clear message to manage within existing resources. We will need your help to achieve this.

There will be very little additional funding to allocate to agencies over the next few years.

This means we all have to be smarter about the way we operate. The Government wants a strong and effective public service. A service that is not fazed by the new environment - but rather can look to the opportunities it may present.

I see Archives New Zealand as a nimble and innovative agency which is smart about what it does. I believe that you are in a very good position to meet these challenges.

You may be aware that recently I have been working with your Chief Executive and senior managers to identify the top priorities for Archives over the next three years.

I believe that together we have come up with a realistic set of priorities which will help Archives adapt to - and take advantage - of this new environment.

These priorities are focused on business innovation, business partnerships and cross agency collaborations.

In today's world of information overload managing government's digital information is essential. We need to actively assist public agencies to meet their business needs.

The work being done to deliver our Public Records Act 2005 obligations will ensure good recordkeeping practices are embedded into business systems.

This support, advice and leadership will improve business efficiency and strengthen the recordkeeping capability of public offices. And the audit programme beginning next year will tell us how they are responding.

Importantly, managing business information supports the Department of Internal Affairs' priority to sustain the operation of ICT systems across the public sector.

Agencies are also set to benefit from the proposal to streamline the purchase of electronic document and records management systems.

This could mean providing them with an assessment of vendor products and making recommendations so they don't waste time and money going through the selection and purchasing process themselves.

Working in partnership with volunteers, other agencies and the private sector to digitise records and get them online is also an example of innovation in action.

Letting other organisations digitise and publish information such as shipping lists, with Archives New Zealand retaining the right to publish, is a hit with researchers and a win win for all.

Archives New Zealand is already powering away in this area. The two FamilySearch volunteers are digitising the shipping lists at the rate of 1500 pages a day.

In the current climate we need to find new partnerships and I am delighted to see Archives New Zealand working with volunteers to make the holdings available.

Working with private companies to provide some information free, with a small charge to access further details, is another option for extending services. The National Archives in the United Kingdom operates in this way.

Collaboration and partnerships increase efficiency and provide customers with better service.

The work with Te Papa, the National Library and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to provide seamless online access to New Zealand collections, is quality service in action.

Rationalising infrastructure and processes avoids service duplication and increases customer satisfaction.

One search function, one payment function and the automated dispatch of materials are improvements up for consideration.

I know the collaboration with the Ministry of Education is progressing well. More and more of our country's heritage is lined up for inclusion in the school curriculum.

Students at all levels will be working with archival information. This ensures the new generation is learning from the valuable kiwi experience.

I am sure we are all agree that one of the biggest challenges we are facing is how to effectively manage the ever increasing volumes of digital information. If we don't, the consequences are irretrievable.

Important records being made right now, later this week, next month and next year will be lost. Even where information is kept it is often in such bulk it is only contributing to the digital landfill.

If the public sector is to improve the services we deliver to New Zealanders, we will need to improve the way we manage our information.

Creating momentum across the public sector in this important area requires central planning, coordination, and innovation between systems and across agencies.

With this approach we can get value for money, both in terms of staff time and actual budget spend.

To achieve long-term benefits agencies need to work together and individual initiatives need to be coordinated. It is essential for public sector information systems and technologies to be compatible.

The new Digital Continuity Action Plan will help us achieve this. The plan will identify efficiencies in information use and set out how we can work together to successfully manage digital information across the public sector.

This approach both supports digital continuity and provides a sound basis for technology development that will add value to the public sector.

Our aim for public sector information is to pay for its creation once, but benefit from it many times over.

At the same time we need to understand what information is really critical and invest in the most important records. One size does not fit all.

Times ahead will be difficult.

As I said earlier, Archives New Zealand has shown itself to be a nimble, innovative agency with a dedicated team of people. I know you operate efficiently. The future is about seizing opportunities and getting smarter about how core business is managed.

Yours is an important job. Through its role Archives New Zealand helps keeps our government agencies to account.

Together we have a job to safeguard the past and secure the future.

Thank you.