KO TE PIRE MO NGA TAKE MAORI, 1952 Ka neke atu i te 20 tau inaianei mai o te whakataunga i te ture matua e pa ana ki nga Whenua Maori me era atu take Maori—ara Te Ture Whenua Maori, 1931. Ko taua Ture te whakarapopototanga o nga ture katoa a taua wa e pa ana ki nga whenua Maori me nga take Mori me Te Ture Whenua Maori hoki o 1909. Mai i 1931 kua maha nga whakatikatikatanga I taua Ture a kiki ana tana rua tekau ki te toru tekau o nga pukapuka ture i aua whakatikatikatanga. Ka hia nei tau o te timatanga o te whakarapopoto i taua ture ki te Pire kotahi engari ka roa e mahi ana ka kitea iho kaore e kapi nga ahuatanga katoa o taua ture. Ko etahi wahanga o te ture nei ka 40 tau pea te tawhito, a ko etahi wahanga ano ahakoa kua whakatikatikaina kaore he rereke rawatanga atu i roto o te rua tekau tau. Me whakatikatika ra te Ture Whenua Maori he Ao Hou ke ano hoki tenei. Haunga te pikinga o te tokomaha o te Maori ki aua noa atu engari kua piki te matauranga me te koingo takitahi o te Maori mo nga koha o te Ao Hou nei e kiia ake ra he Ao Hou ke ano tenei. I te timatanga o 1952 ka karangatia e te Minita Maori nga mema Maori me etahi o nga kaihautu o te iwi kia hui mai ki Poneke nei kia korerorero ngatahi ratou mo nga wahi o te Ture nei e tika ana me whakatikatika. I orite te whakaaro o taua huihuinga me whakatikatika taua ture a he nui nga whakaaro i whakapuakina tera e whakarapopototia ki te ture nei a tona wa. Kua takoto i te Minita ki te aroaro o te Paremata tetahi Pire i huaina ko Te Pire Mo Nga Mea Maori hei whakarapopoto hei whakatikatika i te ture e mohio nei tatou a na nga tohunga i whakairo taua Pire. He wahanga nui o taua Pire ko te ture tawhito ano engari ko nga wahi hou me ata matakitaki e te iwi Maori. Na te whakaurunga o nga ahuatanga hou ki taua Pire ka whakaarotia me waiho mo te tuunga o te Paremata a tera tau ka whakatau ai hei ture engari me ata whiriwhiri aua ahuatanga hou i roto o enei ra. Mehemea tera etahi mea kaore i te raroto ki nga whakaaro ka taea te whakarereke ana tatu mai ano taua Pire ki te aroaro o te Paremata. Ina e whai ake nei te aronga o etahi o nga ahuatanga hou kei roto i taua Pire, ko te tumanako tera e taea te ata whakamarama e Te Ao Hou a muri ake nei. THE MAORI AFFAIRS BILL 1952 It is now over 20 years since the principal Act dealing with Maori land and other Maori matters—the Maori Land Act, 1931—was passed. That Act was compiled by gathering together all the statute law then in force on these subjects, and a large part of it is mostly a repetition of the Maori Land Act, 1909. Since 1931 there have been many amendments of the law, now spread over twenty or thirty volumes of the Statute Book. Work began several years ago on consolidating this law into one Bill, but it soon became apparent that a mere gathering together of the existing law was not enough. Some of the existing law goes back more than forty years, and other parts, although amended, have not been substantially changed for twenty years. Circumstances have changed greatly in this time. Not only have the Maori people increased rapidly in number, but they have taken considerable steps forward in self-reliance and general education, and their position in the community is very different now from what it was a few decades ago. In some fields the disabilities imposed by the law appear to be no longer justifiable; in other fields the increasing rate of growth, and the diminishing area of Maori land available have created weighty administrative problems. Further problems are also created by the increasingly large number of owners of Maori land who are not legally Maoris; that is, those who are of less than half Maori blood. Early in 1952, the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Corbett, arranged a meeting with the Maori members of Parliament and several other Maori leaders to discuss some of the problems in the existing law, and to consider proposals which had been framed to meet them. General agreement was reached that amendment of the law was necessary, and most of the suggestions made were also approved. The Minister has now introduced a Bill under the name of the Maori Affairs Bill, consolidating and amending the present law, and in which the suggestions adopted at his meeting with the Maori members have been worked out in detail. There is much in the Bill which is merely a repetition of the present law, but some provisions are entirely new and of the greatest importance to the Maori people. Because of the important changes it was not intended to pass the Bill into law during the recent session of Parliament, but rather to leave it open to discussion and comment until 1953.