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