ON WANGANUI’S BANKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 143, 7 September 1927, Page 16

ON WANGANUI’S BANKS

MAORIS SEEK PAYMENT FOR LOST HERITAGE COMMERCIALISED RIVER (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. Because the white man has commercialised the Wanganui River the Maoris whose ancestors owned land along the river’s banks, and obtained a livelihood by catching its fish, are seeking the sum of £300,000 as compensation for their rights in the river and its tributaries. A petition presented to Parliament today by Sir Maui Pomare, on behalf of 126 Maoris of the Taumarunui Districts, asks for a special commission to inquire into their application. They claim that they are entitled to royalties on the money earned by steamers plying in the river, and from fishing licence fees for trout which they say have killed the fresh water fish that provided them with food. They also claim royalties on gravel and metal taken from streams and desire compensation for land taken for scenic purposes. The Maoris wish for legislation preserving their ownership of all burial grounds and pahs under occupation on the banks of the Wanganui and reserving and protecting all landing places.