NZers allowed free entry to Waitangi grounds

International visitors will still have to pay $12 to visit the treaty grounds.

New Zealanders will be allowed onto the birthplace of the nation for free from October next year.

The Waitangi National Trust today announced that New Zealanders would be allowed free access from October to the grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.

New Zealanders will have to show identification as international visitors will still be charged a fee, currently $12.

Chairman Jeremy Williams said the trust board had aimed to make entry free to New Zealanders for some years and it was now earning enough from visitors and other sources to allow this to happen.

"I am proud that we are able to make this important gesture as an independent board, without need for Government funding or other intervention."

- NZPA