MAORI RESERVED LANDS ACT

Te Ao Hou, July 1956, Page 48

MAORI RESERVED LANDS ACT Stopping the further splitting-up of Maori land interests was one of the purposes of the Maori Reserved Lands Act, passed by Parliament last year. Mainly, this Act is framed to consolidate the law relating to Maori Reserves, West Coast Settlement Reserves and Maori Township and make it more easily accessible. Previously, this was scattered through many statutes, extending as far back as 1880, making it difficult to ascertain what the law was. In addition, the opportunity was taken to make provision for stopping the further fragmentation of the interests of the beneficial owners of these lands, and, without infringing the existing rights of lessees, to provide for a standard system of leasing. The Act came into force on the 1st of January, 1956. The lands affected by the Act comprise a total area of about 96,000 acres, which fall into four classes: The Maori Reserves proper—about 22,700 acres. The West Coast Settlement Reserves in Taranaki—about 71,600 acres. The Maori Townships—about 200 acres. Certain other areas which have taken on the character of Maori Reserves—about 1,500 acres. The annual income from the reserved lands is in the vicinity of £75,000. The number of beneficiaries is about 12,000. The Maori Reserves proper, which are situated mainly in the South Island, but of which there are some in Wellington, Palmerston North and Auckland, are the reserves which were made for the Maoris in the early days of the colony by the New Zealand Company or by the Crown from lands purchased. For example, they comprise the Wellington, Nelson and Motueka “Tenths,” being the tenth part of the land reserved for the Maoris by the New Zealand Company. And in the Westland district, there are the reserves made from the Arahura purchase by the Crown. The West Coast Settlement Reserves are the reserves in Taranaki which were returned to the Maoris following the confiscations which resulted from the Maori wars. The Maori Townships comprise areas which, mainly at the opening of the present century, were carved out of tracts of Maori land as being likely centres of population. For example, there are Maori Townships at Tokaanu, Te Kuiti, Otorohanga and elsewhere. In various parts of the country, reserves have been created for Maoris for particular purposes, and these, because of the system of administration imposed on them, have taken on the character of Maori Reserves. An example is the Poukawa reserve, which was exempted from one of the Crown purchases in Hawkes Bay. It was a stipulation by the chief, Hapuku, that the freehold of the exempted area should be preserved for his people. But so that the land should not lie idle, the area was vested in the Public Trustee and, latterly, the Maori Trustee, who was authorised to grant leases. The management of the reserved lands has a long and at times turbulent history. They are all now vested in the Maori Trustee as the legal owner, and he is responsible for their due administration in accordance with the trusts affecting them. The administration largely consists of arranging renewals of subsisting leases, the collection of the rent, the enforcement of the covenants of the leases, and the payment of the moneys in accordance with the trusts. The trust usually is to distribute the rents to specified beneficiaries for the ascertained shares, but there are trusts for the application of moneys for the collective benefit of groups of people.