Broadcasters Stacey and Scotty Morrison on their new TV show National Treasures

Scotty and Stacey Morrison are the hosts of the new TVNZ series National Treasures. Photo / Tony Nyberg

They may be the hosts of a new television series about New Zealand treasures, but when the Weekly visits the home of Stacey and Scotty Morrison, it's clear that this is a couple who deeply cherish each other.

Welcoming the team inside, Scotty has scones for everyone and the couple's 4-year-old griffon-Sydney silky cross Ziggy is doing his best to get everyone's attention, until Stacey reprimands him in Māori. In the Morrison household, even the dog understands te reo.

As we sit around the kitchen's island bench, the couple frequently exchange laughs and meaningful glances as they share the stories behind two items whose history has a special place in their hearts.

"Things aren't important," says Stacey, 47. "But it's about taonga, or valuable treasure, and however you perceive that to be. That is what matters."

For Stacey (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa) it's a pou, which is a carved Māori post erected in the ground, named after her kuia (grandmother) who died just before lockdown last year. The Māori carving of a wahine stands proudly at the Morrisons' Auckland home. It's an art piece she'd always wanted, after missing out on buying one from an exhibition. Stacey went on to commission the artist, Anton Forde (Taranaki iwi, Ngāti Ruanui), and recalls that as he was making it, he kept saying he felt like it wasn't quite finished. And then the day before he was due to bring it over to Stacey, he had the idea to add a moko kauae (chin moko on a woman) to the carving.

Stacey was stunned because her grandmother also had a moko kauae. "I showed him a picture of my grandmother, and he nodded and went, 'Yep'."

The TV couple both have items that hold great value to them. Photo / Tony Nyberg

For Scotty, (Ngāti Whakaue), it's a greenstone ceremonial weapon that was gifted to him after the death of his father figure, Professor Wharehuia Milroy, that he cherishes. Scotty's esteemed mentor and friend, Te Waihoroi Shortland (Ngāti Hine, Te Aupōuri), had given it to him after telling Scotty that he had finally found someone he felt he was meant to pass it on to.

A mutual friend, Professor Wharehuia, had passed away in 2019, a loss so great, Scotty didn't speak on public forums for a year, and both men felt a connection to their friend through the piece.

"Wharehuia was a real father figure to Scotty," explains Stacey. "He was a master teacher, but they also played golf together and laughed together. It's a tribute to friendship across generations."

This sharing of knowledge is something the couple is keen to pass on to their children – son Hawaiki, 14, and daughters Kurawaka, 12, and Maiana, eight – who they say are privileged to be born into te reo, giving them the ability to help keep the under-threat language alive.

"It's important to us they understand that and they never belittle anybody who doesn't have that privilege, and they encourage people who are learning," says Stacey. "They know that because their grandfather, who they call Koro Pops, is learning and they help him a lot. It shouldn't be a heavy mantle. You don't have to be Scotty the Second, it's about giving them their birthright and it's up to them how they feel about it."

Stacey has been moved to tears during the show. Photo / Supplied

Equally, they're feeling positive about the fact that, as their kids go through school, New Zealand history is increasingly becoming part of the curriculum. Hawaiki recently learned about the 1843 Wairau incident – the first clash over land between Europeans and Māori after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. In comparison, Stacey says her history education was more Corinthian pillars.

"Things become national treasures when the backstory becomes important, when the backstory links us to our past and educates us about who we are," tells Scotty.
Taonga, or an item that is very valuable, is at the heart of National Treasures, a TVNZ 1 series which invites Kiwis to rummage through their homes for items of significance.
Its prime-time slot celebrates our own stories and the treasures are also part of a new exhibition at Wellington's Te Papa museum.

Some of the items shed light on Aotearoa's less-known history. Scotty meets with the son of a farm-bike inventor who tells the story of how Suzuki ran with the idea after seeing one of the bikes with Sir Edmund Hilary in Nepal. There are medical supplies developed by pioneering Kiwis, a woolshed passed down through the generations – possessions with deeply personal roots that relate to something from the past century.

For all the intriguing inventions and historic thrill-seekers, the tears start to flow when people tell the stories behind each item.

On the show, Oscar Kightley interviews a teacher about the dawn raids of Pacific Island people during the 1970s. Photo / Supplied

"I love it when people walk in holding something that's really important to them," says Stacey. "You can see that they treasure it."

Adds Scotty, "Or they'll talk about something being an important prototype in their industry. And then you ask, 'How does it make you feel knowing your dad was a part of that?' And suddenly they can't speak."

One of the most moving scenes in the series is with Oscar Kightley, who has a role interviewing some of the Kiwis who bring treasures in. In the first episode, he broke down after interviewing teacher Welby Ing about the dawn raids of Pacific Island people during the 1970s, which had been introduced by Rob Muldoon's government to flush out overstayers from the Pacific Islands.

When police moved from storming people's homes in the early hours of the morning to raiding high schools in search of students, the teacher hid them behind a wooden partition in his classroom. While Oscar hadn't experienced the raids himself, he had many friends and relatives who had.

Despite the disparate nature of each of the items and stories shown on National Treasures, Stacey says the connecting factor is New Zealanders' resilience. There's even a reference to the 1pm press conferences with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, which have become very much a part of Kiwis' lives since Covid forced the country into its first lockdown last year.

"Covid helped us redefine ourselves," Stacey says. "We're constantly redefining who we are as a nation."

Having a sense of history and knowing where you're from can inform your own life, she says. "There are insights that ideally were never left behind, but we can revive and revitalise them and keep in mind, 'What can I do in my life? If my kids were to present taonga in 50 years, what would they be?'"

• National Treasures screens on TVNZ 1 on Sundays at 8:30pm and on TVNZ OnDemand. Stacey Morrison co-hosts The Hits drive show weekdays with Mike Puru and Anika Moa.