NATIVES' GRIEVANCE

Chronicle (Levin), 7 October 1946, Page 5

NATIVES' GRIEVANCE

i — press Assuciation

Rents On Taranaki Lands PETITION TO MR. FRASER

By Telegrapl

HAWERA. Oct. 7. Affecting 71,800 acres of Native lands mroughoilt Taranaki and ounject to West Coa'st leases_ re.xewaoie every 21 years, a petition oignqd by 437 beneficiarie;s seeking a remedy of their grievance was presented to the Prifne Minister avir. Fraser) when he , Visited Hawera yesterday with the four xVlaori members of Parliament to rneet the five main' tribes of the province. . The grievance was that under • :ection 19 of tne Native Purposes Act. 1935, passed prior to J;he election in that year, ' the rents of Native ls.ids were drastically reduced from £31,000 to £11,000 a year. It was complained that every item of improvement affected by the .essees was deducted fromvthe capi.al value of the land and reduced what was termed the owners' in•„erest to sucn an extent tnat the Maori owners were afraid the time would arrive when their interest would be reduced almost to vanishing point. They asked for the repeal of the offending section of ihe Act, which had already been :he subject of two previous petitions without success. •Mr. Fraser, who was accorded a welcome in traditional manner, jaid the subject was one to which ne was a stranger, but the petitioners had made out a case for a most searching inquiry. and for rents fixed on a basis fair to all oarties. He did not consider it fair, whatever the law might be, that leases should be fixed at an amount the owners considered was too low. Appar'ently the man farming the leases was getting the benefits and not the man farming the land. That, was a system which could not be defended'. Mr. Fraser assured the tribes that there would be no delay in taking the matter up, despite the fact that Parliament was in its closing stages. He could not commit himself to a specified time, or how best the problem could be remedied. Later Mr. Fraser inspected the buildings and property acquired by the Native Affairs Department in Hawera as the centre for Maori housing throughout the Taranakj district, Mr. Fraser commenting that Hawera would be an ideal centre for training young Maoris in the building trade.