| West Coast Land Deals 1853-1856 The chief native land purchase commissioner agrees to buy out the West Coast interests of several northern tribes to extinguish any rights they have in the West Coast lands - Ngati Toa receives 5,000 pounds, Ngati Awa 1,000 pounds, Ngati Tama and Ngati Rarua each receive 600 pounds each. 1857 Having heard of the above �sales�, Ngai Tahu demand 2,500 pounds for the same land that they consider theirs and not belonging to other tribes. 1859 James Mackay, assistant Native Secretary in the Nelson region, is authorised by the Crown to offer 200 pounds to Ngai Tahu, and to set aside 500 acres (out of 7.5 million acres) as �Reserves�. The leaders of the 100 Ngai Tahu populace reject this outright. They want to retain the land between Hokitika and Greymouth (200,000 acres) so they could gather greenstone. In response, Donald McLean, the Chief Native Land Purchase Commissioner, authorises 400 pounds to be used to purchase all the West Coast lands from Ngai Tahu excluding 12,000 acres to be set aside for Reserves � this equalled 100 acres per penny. The 12,000 acres are reserved as follows; 6,000 acres for individual allotment, 4,000 acres reserved under the Native Reserves Act, and 2,000 acres to defray expenses for eventually surveying the individual allotments. As it turned out, Mackay got the Maori people to settle for 300 pounds and 12,224 acres for reserves - 6,724 acres of this went to individuals, and 3,500 acres were reserved �for the benefit of the aboriginal inhabitants of the West Coast, and for the promotion of social, moral, and religious objects among them�. 1859 Gold is discovered in the Buller River. Maori are aware of this find. 1860 Mackay lays out the West Coast Reserves including 500 acres at Mawhera (later named Greymouth). He had tried unsuccessfully to get them to agree to reserves further up the river. Maori had always lived at Mawhera, and their ancestors were buried in caves on the hills above, so they didn�t want to move. 13 Maori people signed the Deed on 21st May 1860. One of the Reserves was at the Arahura River where Maori wanted 8,000 acres reserved so they could gather greenstone. Because this would have meant a larger area than McLean wanted them to have, Mackay allocated a reserve of only 2,000 acres along with the option for Maori to purchase more at 10 shillings an acre. 1865 At Greymouth, European buildings occupied 1 km of the riverbank and one third of this was leased from Maori (1-3 year leases mostly) 1865 The Native Minister sent Alexander Mackay to investigate the leases as they were ad hoc, and he wanted the town developed correctly. The result of this investigation was that the Reserve was placed under the �Native Reserve Act, 1856� and administered by government appointed Commissioners. This Act allowed Commisssioners to exchange, sell or dispose of land with the owners consent (plus the consent of the New Zealand Governor if the lease was for more than 21 years). An amendment of the Act in 1862 abolished the Commissioners and gave administration to the Native Affairs Department. The Governor also had to declare that consent had been obtained from the Maori owners. 1869 The Maori people move to Arahura, as the town of Greymouth is growing too large for their liking 1870 Poutini Ngai Tahu receive 4,000 pounds in rent from leasees of the land at the Reserves in Greymouth 1872 One hundred and eighty acres of leasehold land in Greymouth had been laid out in town allotments with a further 320 acres of hillside unalloted, as it was too steep and in bush. Tenants had asked for the sale of leases (or failing that, for longer lease periods) saying that Maori were not justly entitled to the enjoyment of the increased value of the land because of the growing township. Also profits were not high because of tax, insurance and leases). Commissioner Heaphy, while acknowledging that Maori did not want any changes to the leases, thought it best if freehold land were to be allowed, provided Maori were adequately compensated financially. The Government refused this because Maori did not want it. 1873 The �Native Reserve Act, 1873� meant that up to 60 year leases were allowable (provided Maori agreed) for land with buildings, and for 25 years for land without buildings on it. The Act allowed for three local Maori and the Commisssioner to manage the Reserves. By now, the leases were for periods of 14 or 21 years. The Government appointed Alexander Mackay as the Maori Trustee to administer the day-to-day running of the leases. He was opposed to long leases, but set low leases to compensate for creating commercial properties. 1879 After Ngai Tahu had applied for Crown Title for the Reserve so the land couldn�t be sold, the citizens of Greymouth asked the visiting Minister of Mines for lower and longer leases. Also as this might be hard to achieve, they asked that the Crown buy the land at fair valuation and resell to the citizens. This never eventuated because local Maori were opposed to it. 1881 A downturn of gold meant the leasees found times difficult. Mackay reported the need for security of tenure for leases and suggested 20-year leases with 2 further rights of renewals. A reassessment of rent should be done after each period. 1882 The �Native Reserves Act, 1882�: � The management of the reserves to be vested in a Trustee � Reserves could be leased for 63 years for building purposes (3x21 years), and 30 years for agricultural purposes � Leases would be tended out (this was disapproved of by the Greymouth tenants who had invested in the property) � Titles to Reserves were vested from the Crown to the Public Trustee 1883 South Island Native Reserves Act, 1883 � Greymouth Reserve confined to a 21-year lease � Value of any improvements would be paid to the tenant on expiry of the lease by the new tenant There were 24 Maori people at this stage who were entitled to the rental from the 500 acre Reserve 1884 The West Coast Member of Parliament tried to pass legislation for right of renewal for leasees. This would have meant that leasees would have an automatic right to renew their lease. 1885 A Royal Commission (the �Kendrick report�) found that leasees suffered seriously because of the 1882/1883 Acts. The Commisssioners accepted statements from leasees that Commissioner Mackay had assured them that there would be renewal of leases. The report highlighted that Maori did not want to sell the land, but favoured 63-year leases with a clause for compensation to leasees for improvements that they had made. 1886 The �Bunny Report� to the Public Trustee following interviews with leasees, recommended that the Government should purchase the Greymouth Reserve, and place the Reserve under local control. Arahura Maori said that they opposed the sale of the Reserve, but favoured 63-year leases with subsequent renewal of a further 63 years. 1887 The �Westland and Nelson Native Reserves Act� 1887, as a result of the two previous reports, came into legislation. This Act set a 21-year lease for Reserves with a perpetual right of renewal: �the rent to be reviewed every 21 years� and with �the same conditions and covenants� for future lease periods. (Note: the Ward Report of 1989 said this resulted in unfair rents being set because of the lack of competition due to a large proportion of the population being leaseholders.) 1909 Leasees petitioned Parliament, complaining of having to pay heavy ground rent as well as capital improvements - they wanted freehold title. The Trustee showed that the annual amounts from rents from 1874 to 1909 hadn�t changed. In a submission to the Parlimentary committee, the Maori owners reiterated that they didn�t want to sell the land. (N.B. the Waitangi Tribunal report of 1991 felt that this submission had been actually written by the Trustee). 1913 A Commission of Inquiry into the Public Trust Office recommended a separate Native Reserves Trustee. This was made law in 1920 after the war. 1955 The Maori Reserved Land Act came into being. All Reserves throughout New Zealand had to be Perpetual Leases. Rental would be increased by 4% for urban land and 5% for rural land for unimproved value. As part of this Act, the Maori Trustee could not sell the Reserves. 1967 The Maori Affairs Amendment Act amended the Maori Reserves Act (1955). Without any input from the Trustee, Parliament legislated that the Trustee could sell the land freehold to leasees if the leasees requested it. Under this amendment, the owners had no say in the sale, and the price was determined by special valuation. Following this Act, 150 acres were subsequently sold in Greymouth out of the original 500 acres. 1975 A report of the Commission of Inquiry into Maori Reserved Land (1975) recommended that no new leases should contain the clause about perpetual renewal of the lease. Also, leases should be fixed at the span of human life or the economic life of the improved portion. Leases were in the future to be fixed at 1% above Government stock, and to be renewed every five years. N.B. the Commission made no mention for existing leases to be non-perpetual, i.e. the status quo remained. The Commission noted that the Perpetual Leases were set up so that leasees could develop the land (because of the long tenure), and that the owners were disadvantaged by this system. It noted however, that the leases could have been long term without being perpetual, and that the land would have been developed just as well. The Government never implemented these recommedations Legislation repealed the right of tenants to freehold the land. The Mawhera Incorporation is set up to administer the 900 leases. Perpetual leases still remained, as did the unsatisfactory covenants such as 21-year lease reviews, and rent increases of 4% (urban) and 5% (rural). 1987 The return on the leased land at this time is 1.95% per annum. The Ngai Tahu counsel to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1991 suggested that a more realistic return would have been 10%. 1991 Ngai Tahu took its claim to the Waitangi Tribunal. Some of the finding of the Waitangi Tribunal included: � The owners never agreed to Perpetual Leases in 1887, but were agreeable to long leases (126 years: being two periods of 63 years). The Crown was therefore negligent in upholding the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi � The insertion of fixed rentals in 1955 was contrary to the Treaty � The failure of the Crown to implement recommendations of the 1975 Commission of Inquiry was in breach of the Treaty 1991 Remedy sought by Ngai Tahu 1. An end to Perpetual Leases 2. Rentals to be freely negotiated in the future 3. Rents to be reviewed every five years Crown reaction 1. The Crown had not breached the Treaty and had acted in good faith 2. The Crown admitted that legislation had been unfair since 1975 Leasee reaction 1. West Coast Leaseholders Association said that there had been no breach of the Treaty, and if there had, it was the Crown that had defaulted not the leasees 2. Leasees� property rights shouldn�t be eroded 3. Perpetual Leases should continue 4. If compensation is recommended by the Tribunal, it should be the Crown that pays not leasees Maori Trustee reaction 1. Support for Ngai Tahu�s position DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL TRIBUNAL � Perpetual Leases be phased out over two 21-year periods � Immediate change to freely negotiated tenancy � Immediate change to a rental review period of five years for commercial land and seven years for residential land � Leasees to be compensated by Government for any losses |