$2.25M rent might have been lost

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 4

$2.25M rent might have been lost

The Ngai Tahu tribe’s Mawhera Incorporation might have lost $2.25 million in rent from West Coast land, the Waitangi Tribunal heard yesterday. A Wellington valuer, Mr Malcolm Hanna, was commenting on evidence presented to the tribunal in September by Mr T. I. Marks. Mr Hanna calculated the difference between rents received by the tribe’s West Coast Mawhera Incorporation and the amount that could have

been gained if different terms had been applied. Land reserved to Maori in the West Coast had been placed under perpetually renewable leases by the Government. The rents are reviewed at 21year intervals. Mr Hanna assessed the amount the tribe would have attained through rental reviews set at seven-year intervals based on market rates. The rates are currently determined on the 4 per cent and 5

per cent terms outlined in the Maori Reserved Land Act. He used a random sample to conclude that the incorporation would have lost a maximum of $2.25 million if the seven year, market rate terms were applied. The amount was based on 1960 valuations. Mr Hanna said the incorporation would have lost a minimum of $750,000 if 21-year reviews set at the market rate were applied for valuations. The figures were queried by the tribe’s counsel, Mr David

Palmer. “The money values have not been adjusted from 1960 to 1988. So would it follow that if the figures were adjusted to 1988 the valuations would be higher?” “If it was appropriate to do that, yes,” Mr Hanna said. He suggested in evidence that the valuations could be determined accurately and settled with “goodwill” on both sides. Otherwise the matter could be resolved under the Arbitration Act, 1908, or by a submission to the Land Valuation Tribunal.