Anzac Day each year reminds us of the vital role that history plays in our national identity but the federal government is failing to protect the national archives, which are the raw material of that history.reports today, the National Archives of Australia have been starved of funds because of government cost-cutting. Annual funding has been cut by $7 million, or 10 per cent, and staff numbers have been slashed by 14 per cent since 2014-15.
The federal government in March released a review by senior public servant David Tune, which recommends spending $67.7 million to help digitise these documents before they turn to dust or jelly.But it also called for significant investments to help store and effectively manage all the other documents that are created by government departments.
To take one example, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which struggled to reconstruct horrific crimes from decades ago, in its final report called for better archives.Another example is the role played by historical research into colonial era land title, which underpinned the High Court’s Wik and Mabo decisions on native title.
Finally holding the gov't to account.
DrAnaStevenson This must be remedied. Forget the HALF A BILLION DOLLARS for the Canberra War Memorial. Australia has spent more on war memorials than any other country. Bloody effing ridiculous. Save our Archives, so much of our whole history - good and bad.
cheryl_kernot A national disgrace, but I guess we shouldn't be at all surprised, as Orwell told us all those years ago:
That's the right wing Liberal Government. Its why people vote for them. Destroying education. Destroying history. Its how you get people to be stupid enough to vote against their best interests and hand over their freedom.