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This practice note has been issued as a guide to assist landowners, lawyers and the banking sector with lending and borrowing against Māori freehold land.
In 1993, the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act was introduced with the purpose of preventing the loss of any more Māori land – which currently makes up approximately 6% of all land in Aotearoa New Zealand. Today, many Māori landowners continue to act as collective kaitiaki of their whenua, to honour and protect their land as taonga-tuku-iho.
The process to do this is different from other
MLC application processes.
Landowners and other interested parties, if appropriate,
should hold a meeting to decide to set aside land as a Māori
reservation.
It also holds information about the whakapapa of landowners. It includes:
Court files (the physical and electronic application file that holds all documents and correspondence about a matter in the Court)
Minute books (the physical copy of all conversations and decisions made by the Court)
Court orders (the decisions made by a Registrar or the Court)
Instruments of alienation (the legal tool used to make changes to a land block)
Block order files (the physical record of all dealings...
Importantly, it also tells the story of the modern Māori Land Court, who we are, what we do, and what motivates us to provide a high level of service to Māori landowners. He Pou Herenga Tangata, He Pou Herenga Whenua, He Pou Whare Kōrero
150 Years of the Māori Land Court
Download a printable version of our booklet about our history.
...Ihu Māori agreed to the settlement of Nelson, it was subject to two important
conditions, one of which was that one-tenth of all land used for the Nelson settlement would
be reserved in perpetuity for the benefit of the families of the customary landowners and their
descendants. By 1845, the Nelson settlement officially amounted to about 151,000 acres, but
rather than 15,100 acres being reserved as promised, the area amounted to less than 3,000
Left: Grave of Tāmati Pirimona Marin...
The process to do this is different from other
Māori Land Court application processes.
Landowners and other interested parties, if
appropriate, should hold a meeting to decide
to set aside land as a Māori reservation.
The Act stipulates that the Court's objective is to keep Māori lands in Māori hands, protect wāhi tapu, and assist landowners in living on, developing, and using their land for the benefit of all owners, their whānau, and their hapū.
...half-siblings may only receive interests that
the testator23 received from their common parent)
• anyone entitled to receive interests by whakapapa
• anyone related to the testator by blood who is a member
of the hapū associated with the land
• other landowners who are members of the hapū
associated with the land
• whāngai of the testator (in accordance with appropriate
tikanga)
• trustees of any of the above.
