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A political row has erupted over the way a private trust is governing the historic Treaty Grounds at Waitangi, with the Government angry that visitors are charged a $12 entrance fee.
Ministers are annoyed that the Waitangi National Trust keeps itself afloat by charging people to visit the national treasure. The Government is reviewing the trust, angering its trustees, who have sought legal advice to protect their control of the site.
Labour list MP Shane Jones is hinting that changes are afoot to ensure the public can visit the birthplace of the nation free of charge.
Prime Minister Helen Clark confirmed that a review is under way and refused to rule out the Government taking over the running of the trust board.
She said there was "no pre-determination" and no deadline had been set for a decision on the future of the board.
The board controls 506ha at Waitangi, including the Treaty Grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed, in February 1840.
Several Government ministers sit on the board but last year new Governor-General Anand Satyanand broke with a long tradition when he declined to be a trustee.
Under the deed of gift, the board of trustees, set up to administer the Treaty House and surrounding land, was to hold the land in perpetuity as a national monument.
In background papers, the board said the dream of Lord Bledisloe, the Governor-General who gave the site to the nation, was of "an estate to be held in trust for all New Zealanders as a place for recreation, education and cultural events, free from political interference for all time".
The board gets no Government money and derives its $2.8 million income from ground rent at the Copthorne Hotel, the golf course, forestry assets and admission fees.
Much of its annual profit of about $400,000 over the past few years has been put into a fund to build a new visitors' centre and museum. That project got a major boost yesterday when the ASB Community Trust announced a $7 million donation.
National, meanwhile, is threatening to drag Mr Satyanand into the scrap, suggesting he may have compromised his independence to help pave the way for a shake-up of the trust. Successive governors-general have agreed to chair the trust upon taking office but Mr Satyanand opted not to when he took up the vice-regal role late last year.
The decision has intensified fears the move is a precursor to Government attempts to take control of the trust and even ownership of the Treaty Grounds.
Trust chairman Jeremy Williams conceded yesterday that the trustees were concerned about the review.
He said discussions with the Government were at a "delicate stage" and he did not want to go into detail.
But he said the trust had taken legal advice "and we have been assured that this is private land administered by a private interest".
National's Northland MP, John Carter, said he had warned Mr Satyanand that he could become the centre of a political stoush.
Mr Carter said the trust was managing the Treaty Grounds well and there was no reason for a review, which he feared could result in a Government "land-grab".
But Mr Jones said poor governance was behind the review and that might be why Mr Satyanand had opted not to take up the chairmanship.
"I have a concern that citizens actually have to pay to come to the birthplace of our nation. Because the trust is unable to go into debt and doesn't have adequate sources of income to sustain its operations, then they need to run some sort of commercial operation," Mr Jones said.
"But to me that's shocking. We don't pay to come to Te Papa and we shouldn't have to pay to come to the birthplace and the ground where the Treaty was debated and conceived."
Mr Satyanand "should be there as our head of state presiding over something that evokes the finest sentiments about our citizenship and doesn't get caught up in some grubby debate as to whether they can pay their way".
Mr Jones suggested the Government would move to ensure entry to the grounds was free. "I hazard a guess that the Crown has the appetite and the capacity to ensure that the Treaty Grounds are pure open, public space."
Mr Satyanand would not comment yesterday.
