Minister of Culture and Heritage (and Wellingtonian) Chris Finlayson has washed his hands of any responsibility for the Basin Reserve precinct.

Last month the Mt Victoria Historical Society wrote to Minister Finlayson and asked him whether he was concerned about the impact of the NZ Transport Agency's planned flyovers on the heritage-listed Basin Reserve, the entrance to the Governor General's residence or the historic Mother Aubert's Home of Compassion.

Short answer: he doesn't give a toss.

The slightly longer answer is that Minister Finlayson thinks that responsibility for preserving the heritage of the precinct rests with the Historic Places Trust, not the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, even though the Ministry is responsible for the proposed Memorial Park in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Buckle Street. Confused? It gets worse.

As the astute may have noticed from the media, the Minister has begun the process of systematically gutting reviewing the Historic Places Trust, diminishing the amount of local branch involvement and reducing the Board to a collection of political appointees. So it's hard to have any confidence in the ability of the Historic Places Trust to protect the heritage of the area from the depredations of Steven Joyce's road-building frenzy.

And clearly the damage to this important area isn't keeping Chris Finlayson awake at night.