Minister Moves to Dispel Misinformation Over Reserved Lands Bill

The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon Tau Henare, today moved to dispel deliberate attempts by MPs and lobby groups to misinform the public about the Maori Reserved Land Amendment Bill.

The Bill is currently before the Justice and Law Reform select committee for consideration.

"Myth 1: Patricia Schnauer said the other day the object of the Bill is to return ultimately as much leasehold land as possible to Maori ownership.

"Wrong. The land is already owned by Maori. Maori have legal title," said Mr Henare.

"The only problem is it's locked in leasing arrangements that are oppressive to the owners and this Bill seeks to establish a more balanced relationship."

Mr Henare said Maori owners were losing about $7 million a year in rent because they are unable to charge a market rental over their land.

"Now lets be honest about it - that really means that owners are subsidising the lessees by that amount.

"Also, the lessee can perpetually renew the lease and that means that the Maori owner is denied any chance of exercising control over their own asset."

The Minister said the issue of compensation, for both the lessees and the owners, was a complicated matter that needed to be worked through at the select committee stage.

He stressed the bill aimed to place the lessor and lessee in a more equitable relationship by moving lessees to a fairer rental arrangement.

The Bill also provides the owner with the opportunity to regain control of their land by exercising the right of first refusal.

"Lessees are telling us their property values are going down because of the reform process. But if you think about it, the lessees might be talking their own market down.

"I'm confident that once these reforms go through and once fair compensation is paid, certainty will return to the market," said Mr Henare.