According to Trevelyan, the move has been described internally as part of a shift to "core museum work". Given the emphasis placed by the new chief executive, former TVNZ head Rick Ellis, on reaching out beyond the Wellington waterfront building, a successful press would seem an important asset. But the greater problem seems to be that no one really knows what the museum's core work is any longer.
The truth is Te Papa has lost its way. Staff are still reeling from an overhaul which saw the institution cleaved into two separate museums, with employees and collections reassigned into one of two new parts that might have been christened by the Ministry of Silly Names: the "Museum of Living Cultures" and the "Museum for the Future".
That split entailed a massive and exhausting organisational restructure. Staff, among whom morale was already low, were left scratching their heads at the sight of functions being duplicated and a newly established "office of the Chief Executive" swelling with personnel. All of it was in the service of the newly defined "vision", which "underpins all of Te Papa's activities and provides the framework for all our activities and decision making", in the words of the briefing to incoming minister Maggie Barry.
The vision statement - or slogan, really - is "Changing Hearts, Changing Minds, Changing Lives", six words which manage at the same time to mean both everything and nothing.
It was expensive, too. "The original budgeted costs did not reflect the costs of the new organisation structure," according to the 2013-14 annual report. It seems that failures in budgeting and oversight were contributing factors in a $9 million blowout. The same report notes with sober understatement that steps are being taken to gain "an accurate picture of Te Papa's finances".
Suddenly and unexpectedly, in April last year, chief executive Mike Houlihan left the role, with no successor in place. At the same time 3 News reported that independent accountants had been "brought in to look at the national museum's books and investigate if it is properly managing its finances".
Te Papa was without a permanent CEO for more than six months before Ellis began - reinforcing the impression of rudderlessness. Probably it suited some museum and ministry officials that the media focus was on ambitions to open a Manukau outpost - an important debate in itself - while management at HQ was largely unscrutinised.
It seems that Te Papa has gone a long way to getting its books back in order. Whether it is doing the same with its internal culture is another matter. Among its strategic priorities, Te Papa lists "Staying in touch". That means, it elaborates, recognising that "communication is two-way, and built on trust and transparency".
That neither Ellis nor anyone from Te Papa has been willing to explain the reasons behind the plan to scrap the press, let alone invite public consultation, does nothing for trust and nothing for transparency. It suggests that on this, at least, they're way out of touch.
