THE N.Z. MAORI COUNCIL BEGINS IT WORK by John Booth Associate Secretary, N.Z. Maori Council After many people had put in a lot of work on its construction, the New Zealand Maori Council left the assembly plant with the passage of the Maori Welfare Act, 1962. It received its warrant of fitness at its first meetings in Wellington last year, started off in first gear at Waitangi and recently, at Ngaruawahia, it increased its speed sufficiently to move into second. Before the end of the year it should be running in top gear and at full speed.

The Queen's Visit Organisation of the hui at Waitangi and the reception to the Queen there was partly the responsibility of the New Zealand Maori Council, with the Tokerau District Council doing most of the work connected with the camp for visitors. The Council has expressed its gratitude for the work done by all those who made this such a successful occasion.

The Treaty of Waitangi The President of the New Zealand Council, Sir Turi Carroll, was given warm support by the crowd for the importance he laid on the Treaty of Waitangi in his speech to the Queen. Consequently, the Queen's reply in which she mentioned the sacred nature of the pact between the Crown and the Maori people, was received with delight. The Council is making every effort to see that the recognition given to Maori rights by the Treaty is maintained and strengthened in today's world.

Statutes and Legislation It is not proposed to press the Government to write the Treaty into the country's statutes. To do so would raise all sorts of questions regarding title to land and other matters that would benefit no one but the lawyers who would have to be paid to straighten out the answers. Present-day statutes provide a sufficiently large field in which the Council can exercise its function of protecting Maori rights. New legislation is being constantly checked to ensure that the Maori point of view is adequately considered. The Council is being helped in this by the Maori members of Parliament.

Meeting at Ngaruawahia One of the purposes of having its most recent meeting at Ngaruawahia was to make sure the point of view of the ordinary Maori is not overlooked by the Council. It is plain that this type of meeting is going to be of great value and another is planned for Rotorua towards the end of the year. The people of Ngaruawahia showed the Council tremendous hospitality and it is hoped that the chance to meet the Council may have given them the feeling that they stand to benefit from the work it is doing for all Maoris.

Council's Work The New Zealand Maori Council has not been formed for the good of the 24 members who represent the eight District Councils throughout New Zealand. Indeed, the members have had to sacrifice a great deal of time and work to the Council, for the benefit of every Maori in the country. One thing that they are most anxious to do is to make sure that you, the ordinary Maori reader of ‘Te Ao Hou’, know what the Council is doing and that you may feel that you can come to the Council, through your Committee, Executive and Dis-