Laws breach the spirit

Tu Tangata, Issue 21, 1 December 1984, Page 12

Laws breach the spirit

The following are some of the laws passed in New Zealand since 1840 which can be seen to have breached at least the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi. It is by no means an exhaustive list there are many more.

Land Claims Ordinance 1841 All “unappropriated” or “waste” land, apart from what was needed for the “rightful and necessary occupation of the aboriginal inhabitants,” was deemed to be Crown land. Proclamation of 1844 Governor Fitzroy abandoned the Crown’s right of pre-emption after pressure from landhungry settlers and disgruntled Maori owners alike. Native Lands Purchase Ordinance 1846 The Crown’s right of preemption was restored. Penalties were imposed on anyone caught buying or leasing land directly from the Maori owners. This was a bid to stop the increasing practice of long-term leases by Maori owners to pakeha farmers, because it slowed down the alienation of Maori land. Native Lands Act 1862 The Crown once more abandoned its right to preemption. A Land Court was established to individualise Maori land title to make land purchase easier.

Suppression of Rebellion Act 1863 This was aimed at Waikato people who were resisting pakeha incursions on to their land. Fighting to prevent pakeha people from taking land was deemed to be rebellion against the Crown, and was punishable by land confiscation and death. Military courts were set up, prisoners could be held without trial, and pakeha people who committed crimes in the act of suppressing “rebellion” were given immunity from prosecution. New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 This provided for the confiscation of land in areas where a “considerable number” of Maori people were believed to be in rebellion. This and the previous Act legalised the confiscation of 1.2 million hectares, to the benefit of speculators. Native Land Act 1865 A particularly distasteful piece of “law”, this Act allowed any person to apply to the Land Court for it to decide title to land. Only evidence actually put before the court was admitted, so if any Maori owners did not for any reason take part in this tedious and expensive process, title would automatically pass to the pakeha claimant. And if they did take part, they often ended up having to sell their land anyway to raise the money to

pay lawyers’ and surveyors' fees, which were often deliberately inflated for that purpose. Also under this Act, land titles were restricted to 10 individual owners, making alienation easier in the future. Maori Representation Act 1867 The individualisation of Maori land title was threatening to backfire on the pakeha, because so many Maori men were becoming eligible to vote in Parliamentary elections by property qualification that there was a “danger” they would out vote the pakeha men in their constituencies. So four Maori seats were established to divert the potential Maori political impact. Maori men were not permitted to vote in general seats. Maori Prisoners Trials Act 1879 This Act was directed at resistance to land seizures in Taranaki, especially at Parihaka. Once again prisoners could be held without trial, and the trials of several hundred arrested for hindering surveyors on their land were never held. West Coast Peace Preservation Act 1882 This Act provided for the indefinite imprisonment without trial of the Taranaki spiritual leaders and land rights activists Te Whiti and Tohu. They could only be released on licence

and subject to rearrest without charge at any time. Anyone seeking their freedom was committing an offence, and an accompanying Indemnity Act covered pakeha people committing offences while dealing with the Taranaki “difficulties”. Native Lands Administration Act 1886 This Act provided for Maori land to be held by trustees, who could sell it against the rights of communal owners. The Government used this Act to buy land and sell or lease it to farmers at nominal rentals. Native Land Purchase and Acquisition Act 1893 The Crown’s right of pre-emption was revived, and the Crown was given new authority to declare any Maori land “suitable for settlement”. Maori owners, especially at Parihaka, who resisted these moves, were controlled by force of arms. Land Settlement Act 1904 Any land “not required or suitable for occupation by the Maori owners” could be compulsorily placed under the control of land councils with no Maori representation.

Public Works Act 1928 The Government could take land for many purposes, such as subdivision, development, “better utilisation”, forestry and recreation. Maori owners were supposed to be advised of impending confiscation, but failure to do so did not invalidate the action. Compensation was assessed by the Crown. Particularly galling to Maori owners was seeing their land, taken for “public works,” later sold or given to pakeha people or organisations when the Government decided not to use it, or no longer needed it. Maori Affairs Act 1953 This Act set up the Maori Affairs Department to act as a Maori land-buying agent for the Crown. Maori land considered uneconomic could be compulsorily bought for what the state valued it at. The Maori Trustee could buy Maori land worth less than SIOO without the owner’s permission, and use it as he saw fit. Any land which could not be or was not developed could be used or developed by someone else if the Trustee

so decided. Local authorities could apply to have unused land taken over by the Trustee, and it could be leased at unimproved value, and the owners would have to pay compensation for improvements. If they couldn’t, they lost title to the land. In this way commercial forestry made large inroads on to Maori land until land interests began to be pooled in incorporations. Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1967 This Act opened the membership of incorporation trust boards to nonowners. It allowed the Maori Trustee to become a member and seek sales to the Crown from individual owners. When enough shares were obtained, the land could be freeholded for sale. Any land owned by fewer than four people had to be changed into individual title and could not be incorporated until this was done. Such land could be forfeited to the Crown if this process was not completed by the appointed date, which was, however, later postponed. Maori owners either individualised their titles or had their land confiscated.