Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka is encouraging Māori landowners to provide feedback. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka has proposed several potential changes to the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, the legislation which governs Māori freehold land.
A discussion document released by Te Puni Kōkiri outlined the changes which focus on court processes, succession procedures, governance, and leases.
Potaka said Māori Land is often under-utilised, and he intended to make the Act more efficient, streamlined, and easier to navigate, with the aim of removing legislative barriers to economic development.
There are currently 1.4 million hectares of whenua Māori in Aotearoa, generally with multiple owners.
This was six per cent of the country's land mass, mostly in the North Island.
Approximately 600,000 hectares of Māori land was underdeveloped, with 80 percent in the poorest land classes and up to 30 percent landlocked.
Māori have long criticised the processes involved in building housing on whenua Māori, blaming red tape and barriers at the bank for preventing development.
The legislation has been reviewed in the past, and a series of changes progressed from 2020-2022.
The discussion document said that while these legislative changes addressed some issues within the whenua Māori system, there were still opportunities to further improve the Act's "workability."
The newly proposed legislative changes are part of the government's Going for Growth with Māori, Tōnui Māori framework to boost Māori economic development.
Consultation is now open until 23 May, with the government inviting the public to attend information sessions online or in person.
"It's important that we hear from Māori landowners, whānau, hapū and iwi about these changes and I really encourage people to provide their feedback," Potaka said.
Once feedback was received Te Puni Kōkiri would present recommendations to the minister for approval by Cabinet, which if approved, could form the basis of a proposed Amendment Bill.
