KEY POINTS:
A review of laws governing the Waitangi Trust will continue despite its concession to government wishes to scrap the entry fee to the Treaty Grounds for New Zealanders.
Trust chairman Jeremy Williams said at a press conference yesterday that New Zealanders would be granted free entry to the
site from October next year provided they had adequate identification such as a driver's licence.
Foreign tourists, who make up 80 per cent of visitors to the grounds, will continue to be charged, while locals will still have to pay for guided tours and other activities inside the grounds.
The trust came under fire earlier in the year for the fees from government MPs, particularly Labour MP Shane Jones, and Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Government was reviewing the legislation which covered the trust board.
Mr Williams said he hoped the decision on free entry for New Zealanders would take the heat out of the battle with the Government.
But he said the review of the legislation was continuing as far as he knew.
"We have written back to them, they made a few suggestions, some of which we agreed with and some of which we didn't," Mr Williams said.
"We wrote back to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage about this and they are deciding how they are going to respond to it."
He would not say what matters the trust and the ministry disagreed on.
Mr Williams said in February that the only frustration the board had with governance was the non-appearance at board meetings of the Prime Minister, Conservation Minister and Maori Affairs Minister, all of whom were ex-officio members.
Mr Jones said he was pleased with free admission but not happy with the trust's governance and wanted to ensure the grounds' operation were not being driven by commercialisation.
"The trust is obsessed with control," he told Radio New Zealand yesterday.
"The trust ought to be focused on fulfilling a public purpose that makes sense in 2007 and whilst they may have concerns about political interference, their concerns will be eclipsed by commercial burden."
Miss Clark said she would welcome the fee being dropped but had not been officially informed.
"I'd be absolutely delighted to have no fee at Waitangi... I have long felt it's highly desirable for Kiwis to be able to go to the place which is considered the birthplace of the nation, see the Treaty house free of charge so if that's the case I'd be thrilled."
The Treaty Grounds, which includes the house where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and a carved meeting house, were gifted to the trust by Lord and Lady Bledisloe in 1932.
The trust operates under an Act of Parliament but a good deal of its activities are empowered by the deed signed when Lord and Lady Bledisloe gifted the grounds to the trust.
Fees have been charged since 1937 but Mr Williams said income from both foreign admissions and other sources would now be enough to overcome the loss of about $265,000 from admission for New Zealanders.
He said the idea of free admissions to New Zealanders had been an objective for some time but it could not be introduced earlier than October next year because of deals with tour groups.
Lord and Lady Bledisloe had gifted the 506ha estate to be held in trust for all New Zealanders for all time and today's gesture helped uphold their wishes, Mr Williams said.
"It was their vision that the estate be self-sufficient, so that its administration and management would not be a burden on the taxpayer," he said.
"I am proud that we are able to make this important gesture as an independent board, without need for government funding or other intervention."
Among the trust's plans for the site are a new $14.5 million visitor centre, which will be paid for from previous surpluses and a grant from ASB as the trust deed does not allow it to borrow any money.
- NZPA
