Discussion on the (now completed) Māori Freehold Land Registration Project
01 Feb 2012 | NewsIts purpose was to register all outstanding Māori Land Court orders relating to Māori land ownership in LINZ.
Its purpose was to register all outstanding Māori Land Court orders relating to Māori land ownership in LINZ.
Two types of Māori land are defined - Māori freehold land and Māori customary land.
Section 455 of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 provides the Māori Land Court with the jurisdiction to identify successors and successors’ interests in SILNA lands.
Other status types As this update is specifically for Māori Customary Land and Māori Freehold Land it excludes the following land status types that fall within the jurisdiction of the Māori Land Court: Crown Land Crown Land Reserved for Māori General Land (which maybe vested in a Māori Land Trust) General Land Owned by Māori (which maybe vested in a Māori Land Trust); Ownership Only (ownership interes...
Documents/Maori-Land-Updates/Maori-Land-Update-2014.pdf (572 kb)
Other status types As this update is specifically for Māori Customary Land and Māori Freehold Land it excludes the following land status types that fall within the jurisdiction of the Māori Land Court: Crown Land Crown Land Reserved for Māori General Land (which maybe vested in a Māori Land Trust) General Land Owned by Māori (which maybe vested in a Māori Land Trust); Ownership Only (ownership interes...
Documents/Maori-Land-Data/Maori-Land-Update-2014.pdf (572 kb)
1 Māori Land Update – Ngā Āhuatanga o te whenua June 2025 | Hune 2025 This update is issued by the Office of the Chief Registrar, Māori Land Court | Te Kooti Whenua Māori to provide key statistics on Māori land, including the number and total area of Māori Customary Land (MCL) and Māori Freehold Land (MFL) blocks, and how many of these are managed by trusts or incorporations versus those that are not.
Documents/Maori-Land-Data/2025-10-28-MLC-Maori-Land-Update-2025.pdf (229 kb)
Good governance is the key From the experiences of Māori Land Court Judges, good governance is the key to effective utilisation of Māori land held in multiple ownership.
1 CJ Media statement, “Note from Chief Justice Winkelmann” released 25 March 2020. 2 Māori Land Court COVID-19 Court protocol as at 23 March 2020. 3 Māori Land Court COVID-19 Court protocol as at 20 April 2020. 4 Māori Land Court COVID-19 Court protocol as at 12 May 2020.
Land interests remained in the name of my grandfather and my great-grandmother.
She was sworn in as the Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court in August 2023. Her appointment to this role marks the first time since 1865 that a woman has led the Māori Land Court bench.