I guess this is mainly a question for Hauser, but what is the actual deal with the donations these days. Last I heard it was a "required" $5 donation. Is this actually the case? Can you enter without paying?

I usually just walk in,.

I'm going with my mum on tuesday.

they have people with tills and a swing door, so it pretty much is a "required" donation.

at least they make it look like it.

I just walk in. Unless I go to an special exhibition.


Speaking of which I need to go to the Da Vinci Machines one.

um, I always pay, but I guess you don't have to.

Fuckssakes, people are such wankers about it and tend to be rude and just presume you do have to pay even though you don't.

Can you guys tell everyone you know who wants to go to the museum that if someone doesn't want to pay, they should just say "I don't want to pay any donation"[b] to the cashier and then a ticket is printed for you, and you are allowed through [b]for free.

If someone walks up, and then isn't clear about anything, it's assumed they're paying five bucks, and then you have to deal with them launching into a fucking whine about them being ratepayers and how terrible it is that the Museum wants people to pay money. WELL GUESS WHAT AUCKLAND, YOU PAY FOR PARKING ON PUBLIC PROPERTY, SO YOU CAN FORK OUT FIVE FUCKING DOLLARS ANYWAY.

Perhaps a big sign beside the till saying "Donation is optional" in plain simple writing? People got awfully confused back when the museum started asking for it.

Please remember that a part of the rates people pay contains a line item for the Museum and MOTAT.

Rate payers already pay for the musem. Personally I donate if I think it was worth the visit (as I leave) and always when I am visiting a museum in another city in NZ.

If anyone tried to stop me entering the museum because I hadn't donated I would let them know that in fact I had already involuntarily donated through my rates and that if that wasn't enough then they could call the police over the matter.

Fuck 'em.

I have never visited MOTAT.

The "donation" to the museum is optional. It has been set up to make it look like its a compulsary donation because that way people just assume they have to pay.
I NEVER pay to go to the museum unless im going to one of the special exhibts

oh and as a sub note it is the "Auckland War Memorial Museum" it houses the names of war casualties and veterans that were never intended to be a " user pays" area
that is why it is a "donation" instead of a fee... because the old buggers put their foots down and petitioned the introduction of a compulsary fee.

So give a few years, when the old buggers are dead and watch the donation become and entrance fee

Mrt, if you got off your arse and read the sign on the wall as you enter museum, it says entry by donation for the regular muesum. A select group of idiotic Anglo-Saxon New Zealanders have been trained not to bother reading anything, though, so sadly it doesn't make any difference to their smart arsed attitude.

What fascinates me here is the sudden conviction everyone feels with the Museum a state-owned entity, yet no one cares about things that are far more important to our country that were sold off by the goverment and regional council in the past and now exorbirantly rip off New Zealanders and New Zealand industry (Ports of Auckland, Yellow Bus company, State insurance, etc).

Sardonic, your attempts to model yourself as a radical for not bothering to read fail.

Did you bother to read my post, or for that matter have you even been to the Museum? You inform the person at the desk that you don't want to pay anything, they say that's fine and they print you off a ticket, then you can enter the museum.

What is the problem with that? The ticket is free, and the only reason why we print it is a) to make it clear that you are not allowed to enter special exhibitions to the Museum person at the exhibtion desk B) to make it clear you are unable to watch the Maori show that is run more or less seperately from the rest of the museum and c) for visitor statistics.

What's the huge travesty behind that? Do you not want to be a number? :(

Yes I know, but there was a lot of talk back when it first came out as being a "mandatory" donation (even though that goes directly against the definition of a donation). You can't do any wrong by putting the words "optional" beside donation, except make a few english nerds scoff at the apparent redundancy.

I normally pay whatever change I have in my pocketses when I walk in.

I always give generously, and you should too.

Why say optional donation? Entry by donation seems to me to pretty clearly mean you don't need to pay anything.

Doing what Samf does and paying a few silver coins is something that I don't think is particularly horrible, and never did [EDIT: as in never did think that it was a bad idea to pay a few cents] in fact even before I worked at the museum.

If I recall correctly, National passed an act during the 90's that governs payment policy for the museum and that guarantees it is not to be compulsory, especially for the hall of memories section.

What everyone here needs to realise is that there is a huge amount of construction going on at the museum, and that if donations were not encouraged, the museum would go broke, or else we'd have to remove large amounts of fixed exhibits and staff who service and get new exhibitions would have to be fired.

Because people are stupid.

I went today with my mum, and we paid our optional donation. Gotta keep these places alive :)

Good on you :D. Annoyingly I wasn't working today.

Onya, Hannoir :) Chrissakes people, it's a freaking huge building with billions of dollars (well, i failed maths) of important old interesting shit, if you dont wanna donate to see it then thats cool, as long as you dont come bitchin to me when NZs 'free' entertainment and culture turn to shit coz no-one supports it. It's cheap cultural entertainment anyway, which is getting harder and harder to find in Auckland.

Apparently you also failed comprehension. No one here is complaining about paying a donation. I was questioning the nature of the donation, which was clarified by Hauser, to which I then pointed out that the wording of the signs could be clarified so stupid people (like myself) don't misinterpret it. Never in the thread did I say I was against the donations.

MrT, she didn't mention you, the world does not revolve around you. She was probably referring to the comments by Sardonic that were complaining about paying a donation.

Perhaps she should change "Chrissakes people" to "Chrissakes Sardonic". And correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe that Sardonic said he was against donations either.

you DO know love that we have people other than posters reading the forum and so my comment was merely a generalised statement to whoever felt it should apply to them. Dont take things so personally.

And to clarify, that wasnt a bitchy for chrissakes, it was a typed in a laidback manner and accompanied by a lazy snort of...lazyness. So yeah.

edit: and if I was talking to you, I would have used your name. But I wasnt, because unless you talk to me first I really have no need or desire to talk to you.

Sorry. The style of your writing didn't reflect that. Generalised statements typically don't start with "You", which in context can easily be interpreted as referring to the people participating in the conversation.

edit: changed "You people" to "You"

Sorry, not quite following you with that last post.

Anyway, MRT you've been on here for ages, havent you noticed by now that the majority of my posts are
1) vague
2) directed at no-one in particular, sometimes even just myself
and 3) that unless someone says something personal about me or one of my mates, i hardly ever get offended enough to make serious criticisms or attacks.

Haha ROOFLESS.
:iwentthere:

Merely pointing out why my interpretation of what you said differed significantly from what you intended. Everyone should always be careful of their nouns and pro-nouns, that's all.

Vague posts do tend to be misinterpreted.

Pronoun: a noun that has lost its amateur status.

no, i meant with the "edit: changed 'you people' to 'you'"

i couldnt see where i had written 'you people'.
please use clearer grammar and english when you post!

edit: anyway pointless arguing is not what this thread was intended for, so if you have no further queries im off to spam some other thread :)

Which is why I changed "you people" to "you". If anything I should have explained that the change was performed in the paragraph preceeding it. Nevertheless, the point expressed in that post remains.

stop it stop it stop it!

I just went to the Otago museum.
Otago residents dont have to donate, but vistors are expected to. Its all done on honesty, but I reckon that most people visiting from out of the area will be honest enough to donate.