The Improvement of Maori Land Titles CONVERSION Second of a series of articles by TOITU TE WHENUA TE WHAKAMONI PAANGA MARAMARA Ko te whakamoni paanga maramara he huarahi i raro i nga rerenga o Te Ture e taea ai e Te Kaitiaki Maori te tango mai nga paanga maramara Whenua Maori hei hoko auatu ano ki te Maori, ki nga uri ranei o te Maori. Ko te huarahi tenei e riro mai ai i Te Kaitiaki Maori nga paanga maramara kei nga whenua rahui, hei pupuri mana i nga moni hua, hei painga mo te hunga no ratou aua whenua me o ratou uri ranei a te we e ea ai te moni a Te Kaitiaki Maori apiti atu ki tana komihana. No te mea kaore ano tenei kaupapa i tino marama ko te whakapae a etahi he kaupapa muru whenua. He mea ke ano te muru, he mea ke ano te whakamoni i nga paanga maramara. Ko te mea nui o tenei kaupapa, he whakatopu i nga paanga whenua maramara o te tangata Maori, pera i te kaupapa o nga mahi whakawhitiwhiti, me nga mahi whakatopu paanga whenua. Ko te whakatopu paanga he mahi nui whakaharahara, ko te whakamoni i nga paanga maramara whenua he mahi mama ake, a mehemea te tangata ka ngakau nui ki tenei kaupapa ka riro ma konei e whakatikatika haere nga taitara o nga whenua Maori. Ko te mea nui ia ka mau tonu nga whenua Maori ki te Maori. Ko te tino hiahia hoki o etahi o te hunga ina noa ake o ratou na paanga kei nga poraka whenua Maori e hia nei te tokomaha o te huga no ratou te whenua, he hoko atu i o ratou paanga ki te Pakeha. Tera noa atu e marama tenei hiahia ki te hoko ki te Pakeha, no te mea ko te nuinga o te tangata Maori kua maramara noa ake nga hea whenua, kua kore noa iho he wariu. Ko ta te kaupapa whakamoni paanga maramara he aruaru haere i te hoko ki te Pakeha, haunga te hoko o nga whenua motuhake no te This series of articles is written by one who is closely associated with Maori land matters. It is being published so as to give our readers full and authentic information about vitally important legislation on Maori land, passed since 1953. This legislation was put forward by the previous Government in an effort to protect Maori land and avert the danger of titles becoming unmanageable through the constant breaking up of small land interests through successions and other causes. The legislation was passed unopposed. However, it is highly technical and not easily understood by the layman. Considering the complexities of Maori land, this was not to be avoided. In our first instalment we reviewed the law as it stood before 1953; the present article discusses the most important new principle introduced by the Maori Affairs Act 1953 and the Maori Reserved Lands Act 1955, namely conversion. Conversion may be defined as a device whereby the Maori Trustee may acquire from the Conversion Fund set up under the Act interests in Maori freehold land for the purpose of selling them to Maoris (including persons descended from Maoris). It also enables the Maori Trustee to acquire interests in Maori reserved lands to hold the income therefrom, after he has recouped himself for the price paid plus a commission, for the general benefit of the former owners and their descendants. Because it is not yet fully understood, conversion is sometimes referred to as confiscation. It is, however, in its aim and its effects the very opposite of confiscation. Its purpose in relation to freehold land is the retention of Maori land in Maori ownership by enabling plural ownership of blocks to be converted to sole ownership, or something approaching sole ownership. In a sense it is a form of consolidation but it is not as difficult to organise and manage as the large scale consolidation schemes and should, if it is used widely by owners who wish to build up their land interests, achieve quicker and better results. Conversion is aimed not at confiscation but at protection of Maori freehold land. The trend in cases of plural ownership, especially