Formed 1 September 1999 | Jurisdiction New Zealand | |
Preceding agency Ministry of Cultural Affairs Headquarters Public Trust Building131–135 Lambton QuayWellington 6011 Annual budget Total budgets for 2016/17Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage$296,252,000Vote Sport and Recreation$89,195,000 Minister responsible Hon Maggie Barry,Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage | ||
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) (Māori: Manatū Taonga) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on policies and issues involving the arts, culture, heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors, and participating in functions that advance or promote those sectors.
Contents
History
The Ministry was founded in 1999 with the merger of the former Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the history and heritage functions of the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as some functions from the Department of Conservation and Ministry of Commerce. The purpose of the merger of functions and departments was to create a coherent, non-fragmented overview of the cultural and heritage sector, rather than spreading services and functions across several departments.
Minister for Cultural Affairs Marie Hasler oversaw the transition of functions into the new agency. Opposition Labour MP Judith Tizard, who would later serve as an Associate Minister for the ministry in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, accused the restructure of being "all hype, no substance," lacking the funding and human resource necessary to be effective.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs had been created in 1991; prior to this, the Department of Internal Affairs had provided oversight and support for arts and culture functions.
At the time of its establishment, the responsible minister for the ministry was the Minister for Culture and Heritage. This position is now titled the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
Functions
The ministry advises the government on policies and issues relating to the arts, culture, heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors. It funds 17 other agencies which also support these sectors, looks after monuments and war graves throughout New Zealand and is involved in a number of projects promoting and documenting New Zealand history.
Crown entities
History and heritage
The ministry supports research into and promotion of New Zealand history. This includes publication in New Zealand history books and e-books, and on a number of websites. The ministry's managed sites include:
David Green, a historian working for the ministry, discovered that significantly more New Zealand personnel were engaged in the Gallipoli Campaign than had been recorded in Fred Waite's official history, The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Waite's number of some 8,500 men was corrected to approximately 13,000 in September 2013.
Legislation
The ministry is also responsible for overseeing dozens of current acts and regulations. These include:
Ministers
The ministry serves two portfolios and two ministers.