We are destroyers rather than hoarders of our past...

Recently discovered this passage in Joanne Dryton's Hudson & Halls: The Food of Love (pg9) that stopped me in my tracks as she perfectly sums up the fate of so much of New Zealand's television output, and sadly there is little evidence that even present day productions will fare any better.

Sadly, today, there is very little left of the 300 programmes Hudson and Halls made during their 11 years on New Zealand television: just a handful of complete shows, some film excerpts shot in the late 1970s, a few interviews and some Telethon footage. The duo's sparse representation in our film and television archive is an indictment on our capacity to recognise what is great and value it. We are destroyers rather than hoarders of our past: Kiwis let go of their treasures too easily. The consequence of historical amnesia is a present that lacks wisdom and self- knowledge.

Soon after I stumbled over a small example of this historical amnesia looking through some OIA requests:

June 06, 2023
Dear Television New Zealand Limited,
I'd like to request a copy of any available older branding guides that were in use between 2000-current if possible. I'm a big fan of the older TVNZ designs (especially around TVNZ 6 and 7) and would love to see how the brand guides across TVNZ's channels were laid out previously.
Yours faithfully,
Alex C

TVNZ's response:

Dear Alex
We refer to your request below.
Please find TVNZ’s current brand guidelines attached.
We do not retain former guidelines as there remains the risk that the old branding is used, although the logos are available for viewing online.
In accordance with Section 19(b) of the Act we advise that you have the right to seek an investigation and review of the above refusal by making a complaint under Section 28(3) to an Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely
OIA Team

So it appears not even one copy of these from before Jan 2022 has officially been set aside for storage in either their own or an outside archive. I'd have thought having access to a copy to protect their Intellectual Property might have been a good idea. Quick, download their current one before they destroy all copies of that as well.