What does it actually cost to run Te Papa?

Saturday, 24 January 2026

Te Papa on Wellington’s waterfront is New Zealand’s top tourist attraction.

Te Papa’s operating costs have more than doubled over the past 10 years. Chief arts correspondent André Chumko has been taking a look at the national museum’s books to find out what bills it has to pay - and how much they have increased.

Te Papa’s financial crisis is not just about staffing or strategy; it is being driven by a decade of ballooning costs to keep the national museum running.

New figures obtained by The Post show that while its government funding has risen only modestly since 2014/15, the museum’s core operational bills ‒ from power and insurance to cleaning ‒ have more than doubled.

The museum’s latest statement of performance forecast a deficit of $13 million after depreciation for 2025/6. And if nothing changes, Te Papa is expected to use up its cash reserves by mid-2029.

Last week The Post revealed Te Papa’s leadership were presented with stark options to address its financial crisis, including abandoning physical visitors and closing its Wellington site.

While those ideas were ultimately ruled out due to an unacceptable level of risk, the museum ‒ New Zealand’s top tourist attraction ‒ is now embarking on a significant restructure in a bid to reduce its costs.

Already, in the first phase of its restructure, it has been confirmed that 39 tier two and three positions will be reduced to 23, a spokesperson for the museum said.

This year, a change proposal will be developed for the next phase of the restructure, covering other staff.

The national museum introduced an international visitor entry charge in 2024.

But, while salaries are a part of the problem, Te Papa’s money troubles also relate to rising operational bills: things like gas, electricity and insurance.

The breakdown

In the 2014/5 year, the museum received $40.57m in funding from the government. A decade later, in the 2024/5 year, that figure had risen to $46.57m. This equates to about half of what the museum actually needs.

Te Papa’s self-generated revenue, which includes money earned from conferences, retail, the cafe, its car park, sponsorship, exhibition income, donations, grants, and the international visitor entry charge, has also grown over the same period.

In 2014/5, the museum made $27.18m in self-generated revenue. In 2024/5, it earned $36.49m.

The 2024/5 figure includes a total of $2.69m from the international visitor entry charge alone. For 2025/6, it’s estimated the museum will earn $4.40m from the international visitor entry charge.

Altogether, this means its total funding plus own-sourced revenue has grown from $67.75m in 2014/15, to $83.06m in 2024/5.

But other figures show just how much its costs have gone up to maintain its specialist buildings, including the actual Cable St premises, its Tory St storage and research facility, and a warehouse in Upper Hutt.

In 2014/15, Te Papa’s gas bill was $270,000. By 2024/5 it was $1.23m.

In 2014/15, Te Papa’s electricity bill was $886,000. By 2024/5 it was $1.38m.

In 2014/15, Te Papa’s cleaning bill was $583,000. In 2024/5 it was $2.03m.

In 2014/15, Te Papa’s maintenance bill was $948,000. In 2024/5 it was $1.06m.

In 2014/15, Te Papa’s insurance bill was $1.27m. In 2024/5 it was $1.72m. (And that is despite the museum deciding, in consultation with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, to reduce its insurance cover during that period).

In 2014/5, Te Papa’s software bill was $997,000. In 2024/5 it was $3.10m.

So in total, between 2014/5 and 2024/5, those costs have risen from $4.95m to $10.52m.

Then there’s capital works, for instance the replacement of a sprinkler system.

While these costs fluctuate year to year, the amounts the museum has had to fork out between 2014/5 and 2024/5 have sat between a minimum amount of $1.50m and a maximum of $8.02m.

In terms of salaries, which comprise the bulk of Te Papa’s costs, these have risen from a total of $26.01m in the 2014/5 year, to $47.48m in the 2024/5 year.

Dr Arapata Hakiwai and Courtney Johnston are the museum’s co-leaders.

Full-time equivalent staff numbers have grown from 332 in the 2014/5 year, to 409.7 in the 2024/5 year.

About 40% of the growth in salary costs of full-time equivalents, is for roles that generate commercial revenue.

A word from the co-leaders

Te Papa’s co-leaders, chief executive/tumu whakarae Courtney Johnston and kaihautū Dr Arapata Hakiwai, who are leading its ongoing change process, said all in all, the museum’s operating costs had more than doubled over the last 10 years.

“As these unavoidable costs grow, that leaves less money to spend on exhibitions and all the other services we deliver for New Zealanders,” they said in a joint statement.

But Te Papa had been “very successful” in increasing its commercial revenue and securing more income from partnerships, grants and philanthropy, the co-leaders said.

While a range of options will be considered for the next phase of the restructure, Johnston previously said it was not possible to say how many roles were expected to be disestablished, or which parts would be most affected, because a proposal had not yet been developed.

At this stage, none of the museum’s core activities have been identified for reduction or stopping.