'Urgent' Maori land hearing postponed

An urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing into the claims of the Waimumu Trust, due to begin today, has been postponed.

The trust, which administers 4000ha of South Island Landless Natives Act (Silna) land in Southland on behalf of the Maori owners, believes the Forests Amendment Act, which became law in May, prevents it getting an economic return from the land.

It has gone to the tribunal claiming the act breaches articles one and two of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The act extended restrictions on logging indigenous forests to Silna land.

Trustee Taare Bradshaw said it was disappointing the urgent three-day hearing had to be postponed after the Crown was late in filing its case.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Maori Development said the urgent nature of the hearing meant there had been insufficient time to prepare the case, hence the postponement.

No new date has been set.

The trust's lawyer, Matthew Andrews, said the backblocks land was effectively useless when it was given to Maori early last century.

The wood there was now valued at about $25 million but the act meant the Maori owners could get little economic benefit.

- NZPA