A new book uncovers the story of New Zealand's best-known Treaty painting and the man behind it. Peter Alsop reveals a tale that's been 78 years in the making.

Torrential rain and Prime Minister's absence meant it was an uncharacteristically subdued day at Waitangi, until it was livened up by a flying dildo.

The last thing we need this morning is another lament about protests at Waitangi and this will not be one, writes John Roughan.

The Treaty of Waitangi is considered New Zealand's founding document, an agreement between the Crown and Maori, the country's indigenous people.

Protester Josie Butler threw a sex toy at Economic Minister Seven Joyce shouting "that's for raping our sovereignty".

Prime Minister John Key's decision to stay away was meant to be for the protection of his other ministers - little did he know he was putting Steven Joyce in the firing line of a flying pink dildo.

The Prime Minister will mark Waitangi Day by attending the NRL Auckland Nines tournament at Eden Park and other events in Auckland.

New Zealand will welcome 24 new citizens at Government House tomorrow.

COMMENT: The Prime Minister promised he would not quit Waitangi - and he has broken that promise. But here's the thing - nobody cares, writes Larry Williams.

Labour leader Andrew Little has accused Prime Minister John Key of a lack of leadership and says he will still visit Te Tii Marae today.

John Key has pulled out of attending Waitangi, saying "we are simply at a point though where I can't go, as the Prime Minister, onto a marae with a gagging order".

Five walks that highlight the historic significance of Waitangi and nearby areas

John Key says he wont go to Te Tii Marae tomorrow if he is under a new gagging order.

It has all worked out in the end and tomorrow Key will again walk down that aisle toward Ngapuhi with a chorus of protesters as guests, writes Claire Trevett.

To help you plan your day away from the politics here's a guide to what's going on at the Treaty Grounds tomorrow and Saturday.

Te Tii Marae elders say there is a risk of deliberate attempts by protesters to block John Key going on to the marae on Friday.

Ngapuhi co-chairman Rudy Taylor said he would be talking to marae trustees about increasing security on Friday and Saturday if necessary.

This year's Waitangi "issue" has been selected. It has been determined that the TPP is the most pressing issue on the Maori agenda, writes Jon Stokes.

John Key should be welcomed at Te Tii Marae for Waitangi Day commemorations on Friday, despite widespread anger over the TPP deal, a Ngapuhi hapu leader says.

Fittingly, New Zealand's political year always begins with formalities on marae, first at Ratana, then at Waitangi.

Prime Minister John Key says he will not gatecrash Te Tii Marae if he is not wanted after Ngapuhi elder Kingi Taurua said the Government should be denied entry.

Prime Minister John Key says he will promote the merits of the TPP free trade agreement on the lower marae at Waitangi.

The PM's Office has finally agreed to release transcripts from his post cabinet press conferences, and Audrey Young says it's a small, but important, victory.

We enjoyed the group of willow trees in Tuff Crater, Northcote, with their nesting kingfishers and rosellas.

I think Andrew Little might have had his first Tony Abbott moment at Waitangi last Friday.

If the Waitangi Tribunal is right in saying the chiefs of 1840 did not cede sovereignty when they signed the Treaty, the reason was probably that they had more practical concerns on their minds.

Andrew Little made something of "a captain's call" on Waitangi Day when suggesting notions of greater Maori sovereignty should not be dismissed.

Onlookers who rushed to a crash scene on a rural road northwest of Auckland tried to comfort the driver before he died in his upturned car.