Treaty of Waitangi documents safely housed despite shaky aisles

The original nine documents of the Treaty of Waitangi are viewed by Archives NZ staff members Jeremy Cauchi and Hugh Karena in the Constitution Room at Archive NZ in Wellington.

Earthquake damage has forced the closure of the treasure house holding New Zealand's most significant official documents but it hasn't completely shaken confidence in Archives NZ remaining the keeper of the original Treaty of Waitangi.

Last month's major earthquake and aftershocks saw about 200 Archives NZ staff vacate the Mulgrave St, Wellington, building where the Treaty and many thousands of other important national documents are stored.

The topic of where the Treaty - arguably New Zealand's most historic and defining document - should be housed has arisen over the years, with past calls for it to be returned to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

"There's always a desire on the part of the Waitangi National Trust to have the Treaty back here in Northland," chairman Pita Paraone said.

"The tenuous state of the present building certainly does provide a compelling reason to revisit security and other safety issues relating to it."

However, the expense of security and specialist storage requirements ruled out the Trust making a push at this stage to "bring the Treaty home".

"We feel that we could still host the Treaty for periods of time, rather than permanently, and we will continue to pursue that possibility," Mr Paraone said.

Waitangi National Trust general manager Greg McManus said he has no qualms about the Treaty's current safety.

Even in the wake of the quake, evacuating the Treaty to the new Waitangi Museum or elsewhere in the Treaty Grounds was not a call Mr McManus would back because its safe-keeping needs would be beyond the trust's means, he said.

The original Treaty of Waitangi documents at Archives NZ.

"In my view it's not a priority. What people don't understand is the huge expense, extra security and other precautions having the Treaty here would require."

The Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a group of nine documents, Mr McManus said. It comprises seven sheets of paper and two of parchment.

It is kept in the Constitution Room at the still-vacated Mulgrave St building, but even before the earthquake, was due to be relocated to the National Library.