Maori land bill will go ahead with changes to give it better protection under the Public Works Act

Flavell set out further changes aimed at protecting Maori land. Photo / Stephen Parker

Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell will plough on with an overhaul of Maori land law despite criticism from Opposition parties and Mana leader Hone Harawira.

However, he has secured further changes to the controversial Te Ture Whenua bill - including a change which will give Maori land a higher level of protection than private land from being bought under the Public Works Act.

Flavell expected to take the bill back to Parliament for the next stages next week. The overhaul is aimed at allowing Maori land to be better used for economic purposes - including setting up a new Maori Land Service rather than requiring landowners to go to the Maori Land Court to have decisions signed off on, and making it easier for Maori owners to make business decisions about how to use their land.

However, it has been plagued with criticism throughout the six year long process amid concerns it would result in Maori losing control over their land - and possibly the land itself.

Flavell set out further changes aimed at protecting Maori land, including a stronger requirement for Government agencies to consider special status of Maori land and the Treaty of Waitangi before invoking a process of compulsory acquisition of Maori land for public works. Officials said that change would give Maori land an extra layer of protection above that of private land.

The changes would also mean Maori land which was taken under the Public Works Act was treated the same as private land when compensation was being assessed - and if it was no longer needed in the future, it would be returned to Maori land and offered back to the successors of the original Maori owners.

Iwi leader Willie Te Aho - who had helped advise on the bill for the Iwi Chairs Forum - said in the past Maori had been offered the lowest level of compensation possible for their land - "we've got a history of inequitable treatment that we are trying to address".

Harawira criticised the Te Ture Whenua Maori bill as "poisonous and destructive", saying it weakened the Maori Land Court, the new corporate structure made it too easy for a minority of owners to act without the knowledge or consent of others, and said it would be easier for foreigners to buy Maori land.

Many of the concerns have been that it would result in Maori losing more land but Flavell said it would better protect Maori land from being on-sold or lost through bad investments.

He hoped to talk through the measures with Harawira to try to put him at ease.

He said currently 75 per cent of owners had to agree to sell land and the bill kept that threshold, but also allowed owners to choose to increase that - up to 100 per cent. If there was dispute over a possible sale, it would go back to the Maori Land Court to decide.

Labour's Meka Whaitiri said it did not have wide enough support among Maori to pass and consultation had been weak.

Flavell rejected that, saying the bill had taken six years to get to this stage, gone through multiple hui as well as the formal select committee process and he had accepted all recommendations by the select committee.

Other changes that have now been made included allowing two dwellings on a marae non-rateable and some housing on Maori land to be eligible for rates rebates, giving the Maori Land Court power to decide claims after a whanau member dies, and the Crown giving up shares acquired historically in about 54 parcels of Maori freehold land.

Flavell took Te Aho to a press conference to outline the changes as back-up, saying the Forum was behind the bill.

Te Aho said he supported it both as a Maori landowner and an iwi leader. He said the late Ngati Porou leader Apirana Mahuika was in favour of it as it gave landowners more control over their whenua.