As many of our whanau come home for the holidays, it is a good time to think about our whenua.
One of my priorities as Minister of Maori Development is to finish the reform of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, to make it easier for Maori landowners to use their land if they wish, while ensuring protections against sale remain.
I have been to dozens of hui around the country, and I appointed a panel of independent experts to speak to land owners and interested groups. People have told us they want decision-making to be easier, while ensuring our land is protected as taonga tuku iho. The bill I will introduce into Parliament early next year does that.
There are over 1.4 million hectares of Maori freehold land in Aotearoa. It is a taonga tuku iho. But much of it is not reaching its potential for whanau and hapu. Whether that means establishing conservation projects, papakainga, horticulture projects, agricultural development, wahi tapu preservation or joint business ventures, the key to our whenua reaching its potential is enabling land owners to make decisions.
Maori incorporations can deal with their land much more easily than trusts, individuals, whanau or hapu can. Often simple decisions have to be taken to the Maori Land Court for approval, which has discouraged some owners. Many are doing well, but they and the Maori Land Court still have to work within the constraints of outdated legislation that needs to be better.
