By Marise Lant

In a decision released yesterday, the Waitangi Tribunal has agreed with claimants that an urgent hearing is necessary into the government’s proposed repeal of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 (the Maori Land Act).

Marise Lant,  a Maori Land owner, on behalf of a number of supporting parties, had asked the Tribunal to grant urgency for her claim, which alleges that the Crown does not have the right to unilaterally repeal legislation concerning Maori land without following a process which is compliant with the Treaty of Waitangi.  The claim says that the consultation process was flawed, rushed and lacking in information concerning the government’s proposals.  Furthermore, Ms Lant argues that the new proposed Bill (which the Crown intends to introduce to Parliament early next year) will undermine protections for Maori land, and is not good law.

Ms Lant organized hundreds of submissions from Maori landowners around the country under the catch call of “Not One Acre More”, which was the famous rallying cry from Dame Whina Cooper in the 1975 Land March.

“It is significant that the Tribunal has agreed that the government’s proposals require urgent scrutiny” says Ms Lant.  “It is 40 years since the Land March, which ultimately led to the greater protections for Maori land that we have in the current legislation, with a focus on retention of land in Maori hands, and respect for our tikanga.  The proposed Bill will put those protections at risk.”

The Waitangi Tribunal has indicated that an urgent hearing will be scheduled in November, and has required the Crown to disclose to the claimants all of the submissions that it has received during its consultation process, including the submission made by the entire bench of Maori Land Court judges, who opposed the repeal of the Act.  The judges were “the most knowledgeable people available as to the workings of [the Act] and as to the Court’s roles and functions”, said the Tribunal, and “we can see no valid reason for the Crown holding back from the Tribunal and parties to these claims a copy of the Judges’ submission.” (paras 84 and 86).

The urgent hearing will focus on the constitutional relationship between Maori and the Crown in relation to law-making concerning Maori land, the process of consultation undertaken by the Crown, and the claimants’ concerns that the proposed new legal provisions will prejudice Maori landowners ability to exercise their tino rangatiratanga to their lands in the manner of their choosing.

Contacts:   Marise Lant, Claimant, Wai 2478  mariselant@gmail.com

For a copy of the Tribunal’s decision, email wt.registrar@justice.govt.nz and request document Wai 2478, #2.5.21