THE ORAKEI SUBURB

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22161, 15 July 1935, Page 11

THE ORAKEI SUBURB

EXACT MAORI INTEREST

TWO AMD A HALF ACRES MORE SOUGHT AS GIFT In a recent letter supporting Maori claims to Orakei land Mr. George Graham states that when the Crown was selling Orakei sections to Europeans "the natives were in possession of their home sites —and the unalienated owners of the same." The Orakei suburban scheme, printed as a line block in the Herald of October 1, 1925, does not show the excluded area, but it has been ascertained that some of the houses at Orakei, occupied by natives, are situated on Crown land. The last transfer of papakainga interests was: made in 1925, the actual interest having been acquired earlier. The first side by the Crown was made on February 15, 1928, and it is affirmed that there is no issue against the Crown sub judice as Mr. Graham has said.

The Crown, according to records, did not acquire the papakainga area until a judgment had been given by the Court of Appeal empowering the trustees to sell. The Maoris were paid liberally for it—an area originally of 40 acres. The remaining area of two and a-half acres is vested in non-sellers, but there is reason for believing that some of the non-sellers would to-day be prepared to dispose of their shares to the Crown should sufficient inducement be offered.

No proclamation has ever been issued over this (avo and a-half acres. The Crown title to the papakainga area, excluding the two and a-half acres, is held by tfce highest official authority dealing with native titles and native petitions to be unassailable. At a recent sitting of the Native Land Court in Auckland a responsible official notified the Court and the assembled natives that the Crown did not propose to take any further action favourable

to the natives. There has been no suggestion by the Crown that the natives should be evicted from homes situated on the twe and a-half acres. The proposed recreation reserve, shown in :he plan approved prior to the sale of any section, covers exclusively land purchased by the Crown, but which the natives are now endeavouring to secure by way of petition. The village site is two and a-half acres and nothing more. This fact should dispose of most of the arguments that have so far been raised in connection with the matter. References to the Treaty of Waitangi are considered to be entirely irrelevant, the whole transaction having been based upon legal authority and cash having been paid for every inch.