Be careful what you wish for

The Otago Museum reckoned that Te Papa owed them $4625.44. Te Papa said nuts to that, and over the last couple of years letters have flown up and down the island fuming over who owes what and to whom and calling for resolution.

Then, just when Te Papa and the Otago Museum threatened to become New Zealand’s Jardine v Jardine, Otago’s Shimrath Paul wrote Te Papa’s Seddon Bennington.

"We wish this matter to be resolved and all correspondence to cease. Should you find it beyond you to settle in full, then don't pay at all - we will consider the matter over,"

On 19 September Seddon Bennington replied regretting "the tension this has caused between our institutions" and announcing Te Papa was pleased to accept Paul’s proposal that the matter be settled in full, without further payment.