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Pitcairn Island registers of inhabitants and births deaths and marriages are at risk of decaying before they can be digitised.Credit:National Archives

But that decision only followeda series of articles that ranged from Prince Charles and the Bounty mutineers to decaying images of Italian POWs held across Australia during World War II.

And those articles started because of the way Scott Morrison occasionally posts important policy announcements on his Facebook page – but which fail to make it to his official pm.gov.au website.

Shane Wright,the senior economics correspondent forThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age,and political reporter Katina Curtis started looking at the arrangements surrounding the PM’s Facebook posts. It became obvious that social media posts were not the only issue that needed investigation.

Ministers use encrypted messaging systems such as WhatsApp and Wickr to keep in contact with their counterparts and to communicate with their senior public servants. Those messages arenot being passed onto the Archives despite the legal requirements.

While they burrowed away at this issue,the National Archives fronted a parliamentary committee. Archives director-general David Fricker mentioned in passing the problems the institution was having protecting the documents it already held.

Curtis and Wright decided to ask the Archives – what documents were at risk?

A few days laterthey had the answer. Recordings of war time speeches by John Curtin,documents from the Stolen Generations royal commission and even a births,deaths and marriages register of descendants of the Bounty mutineers were crumbling away.

That prompted the story that marked the beginning of a series of articles about the plight of the Archives. After running this story they thought – does the Archivehave images of some of these at-risk documents?

Some of the deteriorated negatives,prints and scans of Italian prisoners of war in Australia held by the National Archives.Credit:National Archives of Australia

A picture truly is worth a thousand words,so with distorted and discoloured images of some long lost Italian POWs,they told the story of what was really at risk.

Historians and readersrallied with concern. An email to a representative from the Pitcairn Islandsrevealed anger that a priceless piece of history tied to the most famous mutiny of all time might be lost.

The federal budget failed to deliver extra cash for the Archives,which soon after put out the begging bowl forpublic donations.

A fortnight later a letter appeared inThe Times of London,written by the chairman of the Commonwealth Heritage Forum,Philip Davies. A globally recognised architectural historian who also happens to know Prince Charles,heexpressed concern about the situation facing the Pitcairn Islands register.

Amanda Stoker,the Attorney-General’s assistant minister,was confronted with this news during a late night Senate hearing. She said it wasbusiness as usual for the Archives to deal with disintegrating records,sparking further outrage.

By now,even senior cabinet ministers,unaware of what had been occurring at the National Archives over the years,were conceding the government’s handling of the entire issue had been poor.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg,acutely aware of the importance of the Archives’ role after it had helped save him during the section 44 citizenship crisis by unearthing vital records about his mother’s arrival in Australia,was among those saying moneyhad to be found.

This week,thecash was unearthed.

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