Waitangi National Trust leaders say that creating a museum on the site of the treaty grounds would allow historic taonga from all over New Zealand to be brought together and displayed.
On Tuesday the Trust launched a charitable foundation at Government House in Wellington, which will seek corporate and public financial support for a $10 million re-development at Waitangi which will include a musuem and education centre.
Trust chairman Pita Paraone says it's been frustrating to have many valuable taonga under lock and key, without a space in which to allow visitors to appreciate and enjoy them.
He says the artefacts include weapons belonging to Hone Heke, a seal presented by Governor Thomas Brown during the 1850s, and many treasures associated with the signing of the Treaty in 1840.
Mr Paraone says it's planned to have the new facilities completed by February 2015.
