Understanding Maori land law changes in the Te Ture Whenua reform
Understanding Maori land law changes in the Te Ture Whenua reform - Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill is currently going through Parliament - which means we could soon see the most significant change to Maori land law in 20 years. Maori land has a complex history of the Crown using legislation to take land. That history involves wars, marches and confiscations. Today Maori freehold land includes more than 1.4 million ha or about 5 per cent of New Zealand's land mass. There are 27,137 Maori freehold land titles and about 2.7 million ownership interests in those titles. Te Ture Whenua Act 1993 is complex, and the current reform is the result of six years of consultation and an ongoing conversation since 1998. Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has said every contribution to this bill had made it stronger. "In the time I've been in Parliament there is no bill that has been this consulted on," he said.