MAORI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS

Southland Times, Issue 23376, 7 December 1937, Page 8

MAORI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS

OIL FOUND ON NATIVE LAND HALVING OF PAYMENTS SUGGESTED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, December 6. “This Bill takes away from the Maori people something that has been sacred to them since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi,” said the Hon. Sir Apirana Ngata (Nat., Eastern Maori) during the debate on the Petroleum Bill in the House of Representatives today. Sir Apirana protested strongly against the proposal in the Bill that all petroleum should become the property of the Crown and that the Crown should receive a royalty of not less than five per cent, on all oil won. “The steps the Government is taking to define the rights of prospecting companies are all that are required for the principal aim of the Bill—to assist in the defence of the Empire—and as a good New Zealander I respond to the appeal made by the Minister, Sir Apirana said. “Speaking as a representative of the Maori people, however, I would say that the Bill goes too far on the question of royalties. For instance, the Minister has not convinced himself or other members of the House—much less the Maori members—that it is necessary to secure for the Crown a royalty of not less than five per cent. The Minister of Mines (the Hon. P. C. Webb): I have convinced myself. Sir Apirana: I asked the Minister before the Native Affairs Committee whether it was necessary to have the royalty provision before the companies actually came here to explore for oil. Mr Webb: I thought it advisable that they should know what they had to meet. “When the Government coolly appropriates part that would otherwise go to the private owner, that is too much,” Sir Apirana continued. “The Ngatiporou tribe, for instance, has had oil companies treating with it for the last 56 years, offering something in return for searching for oil on native land. If, under this legislation, the licensee goes up there to prospect for oil and the Maoris realize they will get nothing there will be trouble.” Mr Webb: They would be compensated for any damage done on the surface of the land. “The Minister would have liked to save something for the Maori,” Sir Apirana concluded, “had it not been for the attitude of the pakeha land owners. If oil should be struck on the East Coast, the Maoris would come to Parliament session after session and pray for compensation for the loss of the rights. They have been doing that for 70 years for other purposes and they would certainly do it again over the oil question. I suggest to the Minister that as a solution of the problem the Crown should halve the royalties with the Maori people in cases where oil is struck on native land.”