THE history wars are over, at least at one of its most bloody battlegrounds, the National Museum of Australia.

Three Howard-era appointees have left the building they have dominated for a decade as members of the museum's council.

They are John Howard's biographer David Barnett, his former speechwriter Christopher Pearson and former Liberal Party federal president Tony Staley.

The change of the old guard comes as the Arts Minister, Peter Garrett, appointed tourism expert John Morse to the museum's governing body yesterday.

During the tenure of the three Howard government appointees the museum became politicised and the symbolic focus for the ideological battle over competing versions of Australian history, especially indigenous history. Critics said the museum, which opened in 2001, presented a "black armband" portrayal of black-white relations.

They saw the museum's indigenous displays as a slap in the face for the Howard government which, in 1996, approved construction of the Canberra building as a centenary of federation gift to the nation.

Objections to the museum's displays ranged from serious to high farce. Mr Barnett, in particular, became a vocal critic. In a scathing report he referred to a stolen children exhibit as a "victim episode"and described the museum as full of "claptrap" and "Marxist rubbish".

The museum has been without a chairman since the departure of Mr Staley, who completed his third three-year term in October. Mr Barnett and Mr Pearson have also completed their terms. A chairman is expected to be announced early next year.