Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive’s Report

E ngā mātāwaka o te motu tēnā koutou, otirā tēnā tātou katoa.
Tēnā tātou i ō tātou tini mate, kua tangihia, kua mihia, kua ea te wāhi ki a rātou.
Ki a tātou te hunga ora e hāpai nei i ō rātou wawata, o rātou tūmanako, kia ora tātou katoa.
Nau mai, tautī mai ki te whare o te Manatū Taonga, ki te whare e whaia ana te wawata ‘kia puāwai te ahuarea kia ora ko tātou katoa’.

I am pleased to present the 2021/22 annual report for Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. This report highlights a rewarding year for the Ministry as the cultural sector emerges from the many challenges brought by the global pandemic.

Culture and the experiences that it provides New Zealanders connects people and communities. It contributes to our collective wellbeing and helps communities feel stronger, safer and more cohesive. It connects us with our stories, landscapes and places, and our history and heritage, creating relationships and bonds that bring us together in our diversity. It provides meaning and understanding of our place in the world.

Our sector and our work are incredibly broad and require a deep understanding of the issues and impacts government investment has on our culture and heritage.

This year we have embarked on a Long-term Insights Briefing that will consider some of the key areas that will influence the vibrancy and resilience of the cultural sector ecosystem. This work will allow the public to make a meaningful contribution to the future of the sector through public surveys, workshops, written submissions and further collaboration.

The pandemic presented huge challenges to the cultural sector. Manatū Taonga has expanded its reach into the sector and its involvement with communities. The Ministry responded with the COVID Recovery Programme, which focused on three phases: survive, adapt and thrive.

The sector has survived and adapted through COVID-19 and is now entering a thriving period. As it does this, Manatū Taonga is responding through a new strategic framework called Te Rautaki. Te Rautaki recognises that when Culture is thriving, The people are well: Ki te puāwai te ahurea, Ka ora te iwi.

Te Rautaki recognises the place of Manatū Taonga in the public service through a renewed emphasis on system leadership, relationships with iwi and Māori and supporting Māori cultural aspirations, and our stewardship role across the cultural sector.

To implement Te Rautaki we have five areas of where we want to get to – our whāinga tāhuhu – that feature throughout this report. These focus our attention on culture that is inclusive and supports people to engage with each other; recognising the importance of Māori culture in Aotearoa; cultural activities and events that people can access and participate in; culture that is valued and supported; and a system that is resilient and sustainable.

Over the past year, government investment has ensured the sector continues to make a significant economic contribution to the country, as well as stimulating new ways of working and engaging with New Zealanders. I am proud of the work the Ministry has done to respond to the Delta and Omicron outbreaks, providing responsive advice to Ministers and delivering funding to the sector, supporting it to go forward with confidence.

Another key focus has been the Strong Public Media programme to establish a new public entity subsuming RNZ and TVNZ. The new independent, public media entity will position Aotearoa New Zealand’s public media for the future and be better able to meet the challenges of changing audiences, technologies and global competition. This has been and continues to be a significant and  important project for the Ministry, encompassing business case development and legislation in the past year. This work sits within a wider and increasingly important media policy work programme that has significant impacts on the lives of many New Zealanders.

In our legislative programme, we have contributed to Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022, which created a distinctively New Zealand holiday, our first public holiday to recognise te ao Māori. This mahi included working in partnership with Māori and collaboratively across the Crown with Te Arawhiti and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment. Significant work has also been undertaken on policy work to inform the Ministry’s position on resource management reform and develop legislation for an artist resale royalty scheme.

We are placing increasing emphasis on providing communities with the resources to deliver on their own priorities. A highlight this year has been the establishment of Te Hau Kōmaru, a direct legacy from the Tuia 250 commemoration, which recognises the significant tikanga and kaupapa of waka hourua voyaging and navigation.

We continue to develop our confidence in collaboration and partnership across the public and cultural sector. Our work on refreshing the commemorations policy, and approaches to the March 15 memorial and this year’s Call to Prayer, recognises the many traditions and significant events in our history and shows the benefits of collaboration with communities and across government.

The projects and stories shared in this year’s annual report show a Ministry that is emerging from the pandemic with a renewed ambition to help our culture and our people to thrive.

As Acting Tumu Whakarae mō ngā Taonga (Acting Secretary for Culture and Heritage and Chief Executive), I am conscious that the Ministry’s contribution during the year in review has been overseen by Bernadette Cavanagh, the former Tumu Whakarae, and her leadership team and staff. My thanks to them all, and particularly, to the expert and committed staff of Manatū Taonga.

Heather Baggott
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive