MAORI TRUST BOARDS ACT

Te Ao Hou, December 1955, Page 49

MAORI TRUST BOARDS ACT KO TE TURE MO NGA POARI KAITIAKI MONI Ko te Ture Mo Nga Poari Maori Kaitiaki Moni i pahitia ra e te Paremata inatata nei aa te I o nga ra o Hanuere 1956 te mana ai, he wahanga ano no te mahi whakarapopoto i nga ture e pa ana ki te iwi Maori me o ratou whenua, i timataia mai ra i 1953 i te Ture mo Nga Mea Maori me te Ture Kaitiaki. Ko tenei Ture me te Ture Mo Nga Whenua Maori Kua Rahutia, hei tera putanga o Te Ao Hou te ata whawamarama ai i tenei te whakaotiotinga o nga ture e pa ana ki te whakahaere o nga mea Maori. Tekau nga Paori Maori Kaitiaki moni kei te Motu he mea whakatutu i roto o te wa, tena me ona ahuatanga, tena me ona ahuatanga. Ko te tikanga o tenei Ture he whakarapopoto i nga ahuatanga e pa ana ki aua Poari kia orite ai nga ahuatanga whakahaere a he hoatu hoki i etahi ahuatanga whakahaere hou. Ko te mahi a nga Paori nei he whakahaere, hei painga mo nga iwi no ratou nga whenua, i nga moni i utua e te Kawanatanga hei kapeneheihana mo nga raupatu aha ake ranei. Ina hoki ko te moni e utua ana ki te Poari o Te Arawa e £6000 i te tau mo ake tonu atu, mo te Moana o Rotorua me era atu Moana. He paamu ta taua Poari kei Maketu, a e whakapaua ana ta ratau na moni hei awhina i nga tamariki ki te whai i te matauranga, hei awhina i nga mahi whare, mahi ahuwhenua, mahi whakapai marae me era atu mahi. Ko te tauira tenei o nga Poari nei heoi ano hoki ko etahi he paku noa iho te moni e puta ana ki a ratou. I kiia ake ra ko te mahi a nga Poari nei he whakahaere i nga whenua me nga moni hei painga mo te hunga na ratou aua rawa a ko etahi o aua Poari kei whea mai nei te rangatira i te whenua me te moni. Na reira ko te uhupoho o te Kawanatanga kia tika tonu te whakahaere a aua Poari i aua whenua me nga moni kia kaua rawa he makenu. He nui te amuamu kua tae mai ki te Minita Maori a etahi o te hunga whai paanga ki nga rawa kei aua Poari mo te he o nga whakahaere. Otira ko te ture ma Te Minita Maori rano e whakatau te aronga o te whakapau a aua Poari i a ratou moni ia tua ia tau e kore e taea te tata noa te tata noa. He rereke nga ture whakahaere o tena Poari o tana Poari na reira ko te mea nui o te Ture nei he mahi kia orite nga ahuatanga pooti mema, karanga hui, whakahaere i nga take me nga kaute a me era atu ahuatanga. Ka tapiria atu tenei ki nga ingoa o aua Poari “Ko Te Poari Kaitiaki Maori o—” Ana tu mai he Poari hou ko tenei te Ture hei whakamana i te whakatu o taua o aua Poari ranei. Haunga nga whakatikatika pakupaku he nui nga mea hou kei te whakaaria e te Ture nei. Ko te mea tuatahi me hanga he rarangi ingoa o te hunga The Maori Trust Boards Act, which was recently passed, and which will come into force on the 1st January, 1956, constitutes a further stage in the scheme of consolidation of the law relating to Maoris and Maori land, which was commenced in 1953 with the Maori Affairs Act and Maori Trustee Act. The Act and the Maori Reserved Lands Act, which will be featured in the next issue of Te Ao Hou, consolidate and bring up to date practically all the remaining general law in the field of Maori administration. There are ten Maori Trust Boards in the country, constituted under different statutes and at different times, and at present many minor variations exist in the law governing the operation of the boards. The purpose of this Act is to set out in one place a complete set of rules which will apply to all these boards, and at the same time to make several new provisions. The functions of each of these trust boards is to administer for the benefit of the members of a particular tribe or tribes, or other group of people, property or funds arising in practically all cases from a payment made by the Crown in respect of some damage or invasion of rights suffered by the people concerned. As an example the Arawa District Trust Board, of Rotorua, receives on behalf of the Arawa Tribes £6000 per year in perpetuity in respect of the rights of those people to the beds of Rotorua and nearby lakes. The board has a substantial farming property at Maketu and expends its funds in assisting education, advancing money for housing and farming, subsidising sanitary systems, water supplies, etc., in local settlements and so on. This is the general pattern of the boards, save that some have funds or property of a relatively minor extent. These boards are set up to act in the interests of their beneficiaries and some of them deal with large sums of money and expensive property. The Government has a responsibility to see that the boards handle their finances in a reasonable way and in the interests of the beneficiaries, and to ensure against any loss by perhaps the dishonesty of individuals, or unwise investments. Indeed, beneficiaries of various boards frequently appeal to the Minister of Maori Affairs against what they charge as lack of attention or faulty administration by the boards. In all cases, boards are required to submit each year to the Minister a “budget”—that is to say a statement of estimated receipts and proposed expenditure for the coming year, and to conduct there operations in accordance with this statement. Common Set of Rules Because of the many variations between the rules of the boards, administration has its difficulties, and the main purpose of the Act is, as far

e ahei ana ki te pooti mema mo nga Poari nei ia toru tau ia toru tau, ko etahi anake hoki o aua Poari kei te whai rarangi ingoa penei. Na tenei ahau i raruraru ai nga pooti mema o etahi o nga Poari nei. I te mea ka penei ki ta te Ture e whakaari nei, ma te pooti rano ka tu ai te tangata hei mema mo te Poari haunga ia mehemea taua tangata i pootitia ra he mate porangi, he tangata ranei i pekerapu a kaore ano i whakawateatia e te ture a he tangata ranei kua whakataua he hara kino tona e kei te whanga mo te whiu. I ta te whakaritenga o mua ake nei ahakoa i uru te tangata i runga i ta te pooti i whakatau ai hei mema mo tetahi Poari ma te Minita Maori rano te kupu whakatau, a e ahei ana ia ki te whakatu he tangata ke noa atu, otira he mana tenei kaore rawa pea i whakamahia. Kei te Ture nei etahi ahuatanga hei ata tiaki i nga mahi whakahaere o nga moni a nga Poari nei ara ki te tae mai nga rongo kei te raruraru nga kaute e ahei ana kia whakaturia tetahi komiti hei ata uiui. Kua whakaurua ano te whakatupato ra me matua tuku rawa mai ia tau ia tau te aronga o te whakapau o ngo moni ma te Minita Maori marika e whakatau engari i hoatu ano etahi mea hei tapiri atu. Inahoki ko etahi o nga Poari e mana ai nga tieki kia tokorua rawa nga tangata hei raina kotahi no te Poari a kotahi he rawaho a inaianei e horapa ana tenei ture ki te katoa o nga Poari, a mehemea kei te ahua raruraru nga kaute o tetahi Poari me matua uiui rawa a oti te whakatikatika katahi ano ka ahei ai taua Poari ki te tango i tana wahanga o nga moni a te Kawanatanga. Kua whakarapopototia te katoa o nga ture e pa ana ki te whakahaere o nga Poari nei ki te Ture hou. A nga ra e tu mai nei, ki te whakaaro noa ra, ka mutu ano pea nga rekureihana hou he whakarereke i te tokomaha o nga mema mo ia Poari a he whakarapopoto i nga take a nga wahanga huhua o te hunga whai paanga hei kawenga mai ma to ratou na Mema ki te aroaro o te Poari. Hei te I o nga ra o Hanuere 1955 te mana ai te Ture nei. Ko te tumanako kia tae ki nga Poari nga whakamarama ao mua mai o taua ra. Ina te rarangi o nga Poari e taka ki raro i te Ture nei:— Ko Te Ingoa o Ko Te Hunga E Whai Te Poari Paanga Ana AORANGI (Kaore ano he Poari he Kaitikai anake) Ko nga uri a te hunga no ratou a Aorangi. ARAWA Ko Te Arawa me a ratou uri. AUPOURI Ko Te Aupouri me a ratou uri. NGAITAHU Ko Ngaitahu katoa me a ratou uri i ta Te Kooti i whakatau ai. TAINUI Ko nga iwi o Tainui me a ratou uri. TAITOKERAU Ko Ngatiwhatua, ko Ngapuhi, ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngatikahu a ko Te Aupouri me a ratou uri. as possible, to apply a common set of rules to all boards, on such matters as appointment of members, meetings, functions, acounts and similar matters. The names of some boards will be changed so that each in future will be “The ………… Maori Trust Board.” In the event of any further Trust Boards being set up for any purpose, they can be simply set up as Maori Trust Boards under the Maori Trust Boards Act. Apart from minor adjustments necessary to clear away differences between boards, the Act contains several important changes in the law. In the first place it requires each board to compile a roll of beneficiaries which will be used for the purpose of conducting a postal ballot for the triennial election of members. At present only some boards have such a roll, and elections are by public meeting which has led to some complaints and trouble in the past. Since however, provision is made for proper elections, the Act provides that the results of the elections shall be binding and the persons elected shall be automatically appointed as members unless they suffer from mental disability, or are undischarged bankrupts, or have been convicted of certain criminal offences and have not served that sentence. Under the old arrangements, the successful candidates at elections did not have to be appointed and the Minister had power, although it has hardly been used, to recommend the appointment of someone quite different. In this Act, special care was taken to enable a reasonable check upon the financial activities of the boards, and to provide for investigation in the event of any reported maladministration. Thus, the present provision requiring all boards to submit for the Minister's approval each year a budget of estimated receipts and expenditure, has been repeated with additional detail. The power to appoint a countersigning officer to countersign board cheques, which now applies only to some boards, has been extended to all and a completely new provision empowers the conduct of an investigation of the affairs of a board where there appears to be any irregularity, and the deferment until the investigation is complete of any payment due to the board from public funds. On the completion of an investigation a board may be required to rectify any irregularity found to exist. At present a considerable part of the law relating to the boards is contained in statutory regulations. The new Act covers most of the field now dealt with by those regulations. In future, so far as can be seen, regulations will be required only to prescribe the number of members of each board, and to provide for the representation of specific sections or groups of the owners by individual members. The Act will come into operation on 1st January, 1956. It is hoped, before that date, to send out to all boards, some notes on the requirements of the new law.

TARANAKI Ko Te Atiawa, ko Ngati Tama, ko Ngati Mutunga, ko Ngati Maru, ko Ngati Ruanui, ko Ngaruahine, ko nga iwi o Taranaki me Ngarauru me a ratou uri. TUWHARETOA Ko Tuwharetoa me a ratou uri. WAIROA Ko Ngatikahungunu ki te Wairoa. WHAKATOHEA Ko te Whakatohea me a ratou uri. The following list contains the names of all boards dealt with by the Act. BOARD BENEFICIARIES Aorangi (At present there is no board, only trustees) Descendants of former owners of Aorangi Block. Arawa Members of Arawa Tribe and descendants. Aupouri Members of Aupouri Tribe and descendants. Ngatahu Members of Ngatahu Tribe and descendants, as defined by Court. Tainui Members of Tainui Tribes and descendants. Taitokerau Members of Ngati Whatua. Nga Puhi, Te Rarawa, Ngati Kahu and Te Aupouri Tribes and descendants. Taranaki Members of Atiawa, Ngati Tama, Ngati Mutunga, Ngati Maru, Ngati Ruanui, Ngaruahine, Taranaki and Ngarauru Tribes and descendants. Tuwharetoa Members of Tuwharetoa Tribe and descendants. Wairoa Members of Ngatikahunguna Tribe residing in Wairoa County. Whakatohea Members of Whakatohea Tribe and descendants. * * * Twenty-five dairy farms and eight sheep farms will be established on Tuaropaki development scheme, a 21,629 acre block at Mokai, fifty miles from Rotorua, of which 3000 acres have now been stocked. In 1951 the owners approached the Department of Maori Affairs to have their lands developed and public expenditure on the land now totals £132,500.