Unit tackles Maori land title backlog

A backlog of 57,000 unregistered Maori Land Court orders is being tackled to bring Maori land records into line with legislation.

The Ministry of Justice special jurisdictions unit is running a Maori freehold land registration project dealing with the backlog and is also working with Land Information New Zealand to put information relating to Maori land titles other than whakapapa into the LINZ Landonline computer system.

The project, which will ensure all Maori land registered with LINZ is clearly identified as Maori freehold land, began in the North last year. Participants at a hui at Waitangi last month were told the project would not convert Maori freehold or customary land to general title or lodge historical Maori Land Court information such as whakapapa with LINZ.

The project team leader for Tai Tokerau, Nanette Rahui, said 5360 of the 26,863 Maori land titles in New Zealand were in Tai Tokerau. Of the total, 11,585 titles - 1917 of them in Tai Tokerau - were recorded with LINZ.

But 15,278 Maori Land Court title orders were not in the LINZ database at the start of the project and 42,000 other orders by the court had not been registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952.

The court is required to register this backlog to comply with Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and the project is expected to provide accurate descriptions of the size, shape and location of blocks of Maori land.

Computer-generated plans will be prepared at no cost to owners.

Registering titles with LINZ affects the state guarantee of title needed by lending institutions when considering loans and will also help the Maori Land Court make decisions.