Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe gifted the site where the
Treaty of Waitangi was signed to the nation in 1932. The subsequent administration through the Waitangi Trust is sometimes seen as the beginning of formal heritage protection in New Zealand. Public discussion about heritage protection occurred in 1940 in conjunction with the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The purchase of
Pompallier House in 1943 by the government further raised the issue of how historic buildings should be cared for.
Duncan Rae, the MP representing the electorate, suggested that a heritage organisation should be set up and put in a
private member's bill. Whilst this did not proceed, the
First National Government (of which he was a member) took responsibility of the issue and the Historic Places Act 1954 was passed, which established the National Historic Places Trust as a
non-governmental organisation (NGO). The trust was governed by a 12-member board plus a chairman, and they first met in 1955. The National Historic Places Trust came under the responsibility of the
Minister of Internal Affairs. The composition of the board was defined in the legislation and the board was appointed on the recommendation of the minister. The name of the organisation was changed to New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1963. In 1970 the Building Classification Committee was established to create a register for archaeological sites. In 1980 the Historic Places Act was passed establishing a list for historic buildings. In 2004, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust became an autonomous Crown entity. On 14 April 2014, the organisation's name changed to "Heritage New Zealand". Later that year, the enabling legislation—Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014—was passed. There were changes in governance introduced by the new legislation, e.g. the branch committees were dispensed with. The legislation, which came into effect on 20 May 2014, also finished the transition from an NGO to a crown entity. ==Governance ==