23 February 2010 in Media
Rudd Government Backdown: A Victory for Adelaide Archives
The decision by the Government to reverse its decision to close the Adelaide National Archives Office is a victory for South Australia.
On 8 February 2010 I moved a motion in the House of Representatives calling on the Government to keep the South Australian National Archives Office open and to ensure all South Australians continue to have readily available access to archive collections. I further wrote to the Prime Minister seeking his support of this motion.
I am extremely pleased therefore that the Government has finally recognised the value of local archive offices and that important documentation on South Australia’s history will remain where it belongs. The office will be co-located at a later date but the collections will remain in Adelaide.
In more recent times, archives have played a significant role in helping genealogists and South Australians research and consolidate their family histories and provides a valuable service to researchers and academics.
The office houses archives significant to our state’s identity and I am pleased that after months of lobbying, the Government has finally come to its senses to reverse the decision.
This is a positive outcome for South Australia.