HIS LAST TERM?

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 302, 5 December 1931, Page 7

HIS LAST TERM?

SIR A. T. NGATA’S FUTURE RETIREMENT IN 1934 LIKELY. STATEMENT TO ROTORUA TRIBE. The statement that if he was elected for the 1931-34 term of tho New Zealand Parliament ho would probably not seek re-election at the end of that term was made at a Maori gathering in Koto rua recently by Sir Apirana Ngata, Minister of Native Affairs. The Minis ter gave an indication that he had put in train the final measures of the programme ,to which he had committed himself and that ho expected these measures to have achieved stability before the next Parliament completed its term. Hence there would be no further necessity for him to seek the suffrages of his electorate. His only reason for seeking re-elec-tion on this occasion, said Sir Apirana Ngata, was that he had in hand, as Native Minister, certain works for the benefit of the Maori people which had not become self-supporting; some people still had to be convinced of the merits of these schemes, and it was his object, in asking his electorate to return him to Parliament once again, to carry the schemes on until by their own results they convinced everyone of their value. Then he would be prepared to stand aside, voluntarily, and leave the East orn Maori seat for some younger man. He himself was getting on in years, he added, and wished to end his days in peace among his own people on the East Coast. AN EARLIER HINT. This indication of tho Native Minister’s intentions regarding future elections recalls to many native residents of the Gisborne and East Coast districts that some years ago, Sir Apirana, then the Hon. A. T. Ngata, expressed the intention of laying down the cares of Parliamentary representation as soon as possible. Ho had, not long before, lost, the close association of the late Sir James Carroll in the House of Representatives, the old statesman having been defeated at last, and doubtless this had something to do with the desire expressed by Sir Apirana Ngata at that time. The present Native Min ister had already achieved a notable record of Parliamentary success in matters affecting the welfare of his people, and regarded his work as being almost complete. The announcement of his intentions to his closest supporters, however, was met by an urgent request that he continue to leave his services at the disposal of the Maori race, and eventually he consented to reconsider his intention. Tho later development of the consolidated schemes, which were initiated on the East Coast and finally spread to other parts of tho North Island, gave Sir Apirana Ngata a new interest in Parliamentary work, and first under Mr Coates us Native Minister, and later as personal holder of the portfolio of Native Affairs, ho laboured with an energy and enthusiasm typical ‘of his younger days, when social uplift of the Maori race was his iirincipal objective. It has been conceded that no individual could have been better suited for the delicate negotiations involved by the consolidation schemes, and that the success which eventually attended the work was a triumph for Sir Apirana Ngata’s tact and knowledge of native psychology. Tho freeing of native lands from the restrictions that had rested on them prior to the consolidation of Crown ana native interests opened up a new sphere in turn for the abilities and energy of Sir Apirana Ngata, in the development of the lands themselves for the benefit of their owners, and in recent years the Native Minister lias trad the satisfaction of initiating, under favourable auspices, various land development schemes throughout the country which, when brought to fruition, should place the Maori on a foothold of economic equality with his pakeha neighbour. An important feature of these schemes, which has appealed strongly to the pakeha, is the possibility that in the years to come native lands will not represent, as they have in many districts in the past, a burden upon Maori and pakeha alike, but will be capable of bearing their share of the rating burdens, and generally of aiding the country’s production.