Taonga of Parliament
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Treaty of Versailles Pen and Seal
In this episode, Ben introduces the pen used by William Massey to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
- Date
- 28 June 2021
- Duration
- 0:52
My Taonga of Parliament is the Massey pen and seal. It was used by Prime Minister William Massey to sign the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of New Zealand in June of 1919.
It's my favourite taonga in the collection for a couple of reasons.
First is, there's a great story about Massey not having the seal to actually use to sign the Treaty and rummaging around in a shop with literally hundreds of seals to find a very small one with 'NZ' written on it, which he used.
It's also important to me because it represents New Zealand participating in one of the key historical events of the twentieth century - the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
It's also a really, really beautiful object.
Treaty of Versailles Pen and Seal
In this episode, Ben introduces the pen used by William Massey to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
Pah Hill Riwaka by Toss Woollaston
Adelyn introduces an item from the Parliamentary Collection - Pah Hill Riwaka by Toss Woollaston.
Tokotoko
Kura Moeahu, Tumu Whakarae at NZ Parliament, introduces the tokotoko and what it means to him.
Personal Voting Lecterns
Eva introduces the personal voting lecterns and what they mean to her.
Clerk's Notes
David Wilson, Clerk of the House of Representatives, introduces one of Parliament's lesser-known procedural treasures: the Clerk's Notes.
The Mace
October 7, 2019 marked the 110th anniversary of Parliament’s mace being used for the first time – so for our debut episode, we caught up with Serjeant-at-arms Steve Streefkerk to hear what makes Parliament’s mace special.