MAORIS COMPENSATED

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 1 September 1928, Page 5

MAORIS COMPENSATED

LAND AT ORAKEI area of two acres defined After a visit of inspection yesterday, judge C. E. MacCormick of the Native Land Court, defined the area which is to remain in possession of the Maoris out of the 38-acre block at Orakei, which was sold to the Government. The decision of the Judge which allows the Maoris 1 acre, 2 roods, 30 perches, includes four or five permanent dwellings and the meeting-house, and adjoins the church and cemetery. The actual division between the Crown and the Maoris will be made final after the petition has been received by Parliament. GOVERNMENT’S DUTY Although the natives of Orakei have been foolishly improvident with the purchase money for their lands, the Government has a moral responsibility in providing a suitable and sufficient living area for them, preferably in the block. This is the opinion of Te Akarana Maori Association on the Orakei tangle, given this morning to The Sun. ° The association though that it was the duty of the Government to see that no Orakei native became dependent on old-age pensions or charitable aid. It believes that the Government should have held the bulk of the purchase money for investment to the benefit of the sellers and the generations following.