Hon Parekura Horomia
Associate Minister of State Services

16 June 2006 Media Statement

Treaty 2 U Tour 2 B Extended

"Treaty 2 U the touring exhibition will be doing another tour of duty of Aotearoa" the Associate Minister of State Services, Parekura Horomia said today.

The mobile trailer-touring exhibition created by Archives New Zealand, the National Library of New Zealand, and Te Papa was contracted by the State Services Commission Treaty Information Unit.

Parekura Horomia today announced that the extended free Treaty 2 U tour will commence early next year with the aim of visiting between 15-20 locations nationwide and attracting an audience of 40,000.

"The very successful inaugural tour of the country visited 34 locations from Kaitaia to Invercargill and many towns in between. Over 36,000 people visited the exhibition between January and May of this year, many of them leaving with an extremely high level of visitor satisfaction."

"What this tells this Labour-led government is that Treaty 2 U is filling a much needed information gap around the Treaty of Waitangi by providing New Zealanders with easy to access and user friendly information on what the Treaty is about.

Treaty 2 U provides insights to the Treaty of Waitangi through sight, sound, video, cartoons and animated graphics. Interactive technology enables visitors to find out more about the Treaty and have their say on issues.

The exhibition also feature authentic aged replicas of the original nine Treaty documents and covers the events that led up to the Treaty, from first contact between Maori and Pakeha, to lengthy debate the night before signing.

"I would like to encourage all who have the opportunity, to visit Treaty 2 U. Despite controversy over the years, the Treaty of Waitangi continues to help us understand the past, make sense of where we as a people are now and builds on our national identity for the future.

ENDS

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