One particular cynical reading of that could be "the day I'm held responsible for my code is the day I quit".

I think I can understand it to a degree. If the code is well-documented (with comments and design docs) then there really should not be a need to look at the prior state of the code. In an ideal universe, the only things that should matter are what the code currently does and what is being requested that it do new or differently.

That's about as charitable as I can be to their take.