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Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has suggested that Motat could help keep itself afloat by selling some of its exhibits.
At council’s Governing Body meeting on March 28, questions on how the Auckland Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) could cut down on costs were raised.
The museum falls under the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Act and Auckland Council has a statutory obligation to fund it.
Cr Maurice Williamson said he was in Parliament in 2000 when Helen Clark moved the legislation to set up Motat.
“It had a paid staff of 10 and a budget of about $2 million – what I don’t understand is how we have now got a situation where there are 110 staff, the volunteer numbers have collapsed and the funding is now $18 million per annum,” Williamson said.
Museum director Michael Frawley said that when the legislation was passed the museum was in bankruptcy.
“The reason it was in difficulty was because it was a volunteer-run organisation,” Frawley said.
“You are talking about 24 years ago. If you are looking at staff numbers and budget numbers, you only have to look at the council and look at how much that has grown over the same 24 years.
“Is it seriously being suggested that Motat be run by volunteers with the budget that we’re currently on, by a staff of 10? This is a seven day a week, 364-day operation covering 5.2 hectares with security, health and safety and cultural issues.”
Mayor Wayne Brown said the cost [to the museum] was $86 per visitor, which was “pretty bloody expensive”, yet the income was only about $19 per visitor.
“If that’s right, it’s massively subsidised – that’s frightening,” Brown said.
“I have to be harsh about this, but everything’s a business.
“I am just asking the person in charge to justify $18 million to me – if you have got a lot of stuff that’s stored, that no one’s looking at, sell it. That preserves it,” Brown said.
Frawley asked if Brown was seriously suggesting the museum sell Auckland’s heritage.
“There are museum ethics and codes around the storage and disposal of museum objects,” Frawley said. “You can’t just sell them. You have to offer them up to other museums, you have to offer them back to the original donor.
“There is no magic panacea; we can’t just sell the Solent flying boat and that somehow produces a huge amount of money. It doesn’t work like that in the museum world.”
