gation. In Forests (a portfolio he abandoned in 1954 due to ill health), Mr Corbett was in charge of the arrangements with the Tasman Pulp and Paper enterprise. But in this article we shall recall only his contact with the Maori people as Minister of Maori Affairs. The first great Maori meeting he attended as Minister was the Rangiatea Centenary celebration at Otaki. This was also the last great meeting of the late Sir Apirana Ngata. Here, Sir Apirana threw out a powerful challenge. With his usual wealth of detail and documentation and oratorical fire, the old statesman assailed various features of Maori Affairs administration. Sir Apirana knew that the new minister was not yet familiar with all this detail but nonetheless this was a way to show to the Maori people what kind of man Mr Corbett was. In his reply he was undaunted, conceded nothing but made a characteristic promise of vigorous action. “On the East Coast you have a saying ‘Taihoa’,” he said, “but in Taranaki where I come from we say ‘Kia tere’ (make speed). And I am sure, Sir, that while you are alive to spur me on I shall have no opportunity to sit down on the job.” The feeling of the meeting was one of confidence in the new Minister who had shown both strength and sincere purpose in a contest with the greatest living Maori. Sir Apirana passed away shortly after this, but Mr Corbett's admiration remained. Right at the end, when his health was very precarious he insisted on making the long trip to Waiomatatini purely as a pilgrimage of aroha to the graveside Mr Roplha farewells the retiring Minister at the Ngati Poneke Hall (Photograph by The Dominaion). of Sir Apirana. He regarded the great Maori leader as his guide, counsellor and friend and did not wish to retire without saying farewell to his spirit. He then undertook the steep difficult trek up to the hillside overlooking Porourangi meeting-house where he stood for a time by the grave. The highlight of Mr Corbett's career as Minister was probably the legislation on the succession to Maori land interests to prevent the breaking down of uneconomic interests. This was a very challenging piece of legislation because it is no small matter to be deprived by law of the right to succeed to ancestral land, even if this land measures no more than a square yard. Mr Corbett saw, however, that unless something was done it would not be long before most Maori interests would indeed not be much greater than a square yard, and therefore economically useless. In fifty years time what he has done may well be regarded as the salvation of the Maori land heritage. After long negotiations and some compromise, Maori leaders agreed to the legislation and it went through the House unopposed, as part of the Maori Affairs Act 1953. In 1955 a stop was also put to the constant breaking down of interests in Maori Reserved Land. In Maori housing, employment, land development and welfare, constant progress was maintained and expenditure rose regularly year by year. He spent much of his time visiting maraes in the remotest corners of New Zealand; the Minister's car was forever churning the roads of the backblocks. He liked to have solid farm earth under his feet, judge the grass, the fertility, decide for himself whether a block was worth developing. And he liked the idea of Maoris farming their land. He lost no time in releasing as much land as possible from departmental control to Maori farmers and incorporations. The business side of farming and transacting housing mortgages was entirely familiar to him before he became Minister; he administered it quickly and efficiently like the director of a large corporaton. Yet he recognised that this was not the core of his task. The real problems were less tangible but concerned human behaviour and the social changes occurring in the Maori race. Here Mr Corbett had his experience in social organisations to fall back on and also his enthusiastic work as a layman for the Anglican church. This experience gave Mr Corbett a very idealistic view of social services; he regarded them as a mission, where qualities of heart were far more important than training and where the general aim was to lift people to a higher level. It was here that the Minister met conflict and sometimes disappointment. At Meetings he used to tell the Maori people ‘I give you not what you want but what you need’. However, there was no doubt of the vigour with which Mr Corbett provided what he thought was needed, nor of the sound and earthy judgment