KEY POINTS:
National leader John Key wants a public change of heart over Waitangi Day, saying it should be embraced and celebrated.
But he acknowledges he may be in for some flak over recent policy when he visits Te Tii Marae on Monday.
Mr Key will visit the marae at Waitangi in the late afternoon and attend the dawn service at the national marae there on Waitangi Day before heading to Auckland for a series of events.
"I'm looking forward to going there [Waitangi]," he said yesterday.
Referring to the party's decision not to support the Maori Party's foreshore and seabed bill and and its albeit softened position on the Maori seats, he said: "I acknowledge I might get a mixed reception to some of the statements we made yesterday.
"But I've always argued ... that the relationship I want the National Party to have with Maori is one that is honest, open and transparent."
Mr Key said the Treaty represented "our history, where the nation came together and Pakeha and Maori had an opportunity to form a country, where they tried to build, and did develop a future".
He said he did not agree with flying the tino rangatiratanga flag because it argued the case of Maori sovereignty, when the Treaty was all about being equal citizens.
