Whanganui Leased Vested Lands c. 1951-2000 HEATHER BASSETT RICHARD KAY Report Commissioned by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust May 2004 Table of Contents Introduction 3 i. The Authors 3 ii. Project Brief 3 iii. Statement of Claim 4 iv. Structure and Issues 5 Part One: Whanganui Vested Lands 1900 - 1950 8 1.1 Vested Lands 1900 - 1905 8 1.1.1 Maori Lands Administration Act 1900 8 1.1.2 Vesting Land in the Aotea District Maori Land Council 9 1.1.3 Council Administration 11 1.2 Legislative Changes 1905 - 1909 14 1.2.1 Maori Land Settlement Act 1905 14 1.2.2 The Stout-Ngata Royal Commission and the Native Land Settlement Act 1907 16 1.2.3 Native Land Act 1909 18 1.3 Pressure to Change the Terms of the Leases 1911 - 1948 18 1.3.1 Select Committee Hearing 1911 18 1.3.2 Native Land Amendment Act 1913 19 1.3.3 Renewing the Leases After the First 21 Years 19 1.3.4 Events During the 1930s and 1940s 21 1.4 Summary 24 Part Two: Royal Commission into Vested Lands and Subsequent Negotiations 1950 - 1954 27 2.1 Report of the Royal Commission into Vested Lands 1951 28 2.2 Legislation Proposed by the Crown 35 2.3 Settlement Negotiated by the Owners and Lessees 44 2.4 Summary 52 Part Three: Maori Trustee Administration 1954 - 1969 55 3.1 Maori Vested Lands Administration Act 1954 55 3.2 Lease Administration by the Maori Trustee 61 3.2.1 Issuing Renewed Leases and Rent Revisions 61 3.2.2 Refusal of Prescribed Leases - Tauakira Blocks 72 3.3 Ohorea Station 78 3.3.1 Wright and Forsyth Lease Resumptions 79 3.3.2 Ohorea Station Operation 88 3.4 Summary 98 1 Part Four: Amalgamation and Revesting 1962 - 1969 102 4.1 Amalgamation of Titles into Atihau-Whanganui Block 102 4.1.1 Planning Towards Amalgamation 103 4.1.2 Maori Purposes Act 1966 117 4.1.3 Maori Land Court Hearing and Amalgamation Order 119 4.2 Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1967 126 4.3 Returning Control to the Owners 130 4.3.1 Legal Options 131 4.3.2 Deciding on an Ownership Structure 134 4.3.3 Maori Land Court Incorporation and Revesting Hearings 137 4.4 Summary 141 Part Five: Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation - Land Resumption and Lease Administration 1970 - c 2000 144 5.1 Establishing the Incorporation and Planning for Resumptions 1970 - 1975 145 5.2 Valuation Issues 1975 - 1985 150 5.2.1 The ‘Phantom Trees’ Case 151 5.2.2 High Court Decision on Valuation Objections 155 5.2.3 Court of Appeal Consideration of Valuation Objections 162 5.3 Ongoing Resumptions and Rent Reviews 166 5.4 Summary 170 Bibliography 175 2 Introduction i. The Authors Heather Bassett holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree, majoring in history, from Waikato University. From 1993 to 1995 she worked as a researcher for the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, during which time she co-authored the Maori Land Legislation Manual. Heather was a staff member at the Waitangi Tribunal from June 1995 to October 1996. Since then she has been working as a contract historian and is based in Auckland. Richard Kay holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in history, from Otago University and a Master of Arts Honours degree, majoring in history, from Waikato University. He has a Diploma of Teaching (secondary) from the Auckland College of Education. He is based in Auckland and works as a contract historian. Together, Heather Bassett and Richard Kay have written over twenty reports for various Waitangi Tribunal inquiries. ii. Project Brief This report has been written as part of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust’s research programme for the Whanganui Inquiry District. In March 2002 Bassett Kay Research was contracted to write a scoping report examining the lands which were vested in the Aotea District Maori Land Board. The scoping report recommended that research should be carried out on the history of the leased vested lands since 1951.1 In December 2002 Bassett Kay Research was contracted by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust to write this report on the leased vested lands 1951-2000. The project brief required research covering the following issues: 1. Introductory section backgrounding important developments in the history of the Whanganui vested lands from 1900 up until 1950. 2. The 1951 Royal Commission into Vested Lands and the subsequent passing of the Maori Vested Lands Administration Act 1954. 1 Heather Bassett and Richard Kay, ‘Whanganui Reserves and Vested Lands Scoping Report’, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, August 2002. 3 3. The effectiveness of the Maori Trustee’s administration of these lands, the extent to which the owners were involved in or consulted about the administration of these lands and the benefits they may have received from them. 4. The transfer of these lands to the control of the incorporated owners, and aspects of the subsequent history of the incorporation.2 iii. Statement of Claim The Wai 759 statement of claim relates specifically to the administration of the Whanganui Vested Lands. The statement of claim was lodged by Meterei Tinirau on behalf of the shareholders of the Atihau-Whanganui Maori Land Incorporation.3 The claim lists a number of specific grievances about the legislation governing the vested lands, failures in administration, and the failure of the Crown to adequately redress the problems faced by the owners. The statement of claim makes it clear that Maori agreed to vest their land in the Aotea District Maori Land Council, ‘for the purposes of leasing and settlement and in order to better provide for themselves and their descendants’.4 This was done on the expectation that ‘in due course, the bulk of the vested lands would be occupied and farmed by the beneficial owners’.5 The specific Treaty of Waitangi breaches listed in the statement of claim include: • changes in legislation; • the method of assessing valuations and rentals; • failure to protect the owners’ rights to receive the value of timber on the blocks; • failure to provide finance to assist the owners to resume the leased lands; • inadequacies of the 1951 inquiry; • inadequacies of the 1954 settlement in failing to assist the owners to regain control of the leased lands. The authors would like to thank the Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation for providing access to some of its records, and to the Maori Trustee files which are held by the incorporation. 2 Whanganui Vested Lands 1951-2000 Project Brief, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, 11 November 2002. 3 Wai 759 Statement of Claim, 8 May 1998. 4 ibid. 5 ibid. 4 Heather Bassett appreciated the way that incorporation staff willingly provided her with assistance and information. iv. Structure and Issues The ‘Whanganui Reserves and Vested Lands Scoping Report’ explained how the vast acreage of Whanganui Maori land vested in the Aotea District Maori Land Council was eventually administered in three ways: 1. Blocks which were leased for Pakeha settlement. 2. Blocks which were farmed by the board as the Morikau Farm/Station. 3. Morikau Farm blocks which were revested in the owners and became the Ranana 6 Development Scheme. The Whanganui district overview report, written by Tony Walzl has detailed coverage of many aspects of the vested lands before 1950.7 The Walzl overview report covers the history of the blocks leased for Pakeha settlement until the establishment of the Royal Commission; the history of the Morikau Farm until its return to the owners in 1954; and the history of the Ranana Development Scheme until it was wound up in the early 1970s. The scoping report identified that further research was required into what happened after 1950 to the vested blocks leased for Pakeha settlement. This is the sole focus of this report, and readers wanting information about other aspects of the vested lands’ history should consult the Walzl report. Part One of this report provides an introductory overview to the history of the Whanganui lands vested in the Aotea District Maori Land Board for the period 1900 to 1950. This section is intended to provide the reader with a brief introduction to the history of the vested lands which were leased, with a particular emphasis on the terms under which Whanganui Maori agreed to vest land in the board, and how those terms and conditions were changed. Part One discusses the relevant legislation and administration by the Aotea District Maori Land Council and Board. Issues relating to valuations and compensation for improvements are examined in the context of pressure from the lessees for perpetual leases or the right to purchase, and resistance from the owners. Maori requests for assistance to resolve the 6 Heather Bassett and Richard Kay, ‘Whanganui Reserves and Vested Lands Scoping Report’, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, August 2002, pp. 27-31. 7 Tony Walzl, ‘Whanganui Land 1900-1970’, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, February 2004. 5 problems relating to compensation for improvements led to the establishment of a Royal Commission. Part Two explains the report and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Vested Lands. It discusses the commission’s criticisms of the method used to value the land and improvements, and other aspects of the administration by the Maori Land Board. The commission made detailed recommendations for legislation to govern the future leasing of the land by the Maori Trustee and resumption of leases for Maori farming. The response to these recommendations by the Maori Affairs Department, the lessees and the owners is explained. The Crown put forward alternative settlement proposals, but these were rejected by both the owners and the lessees.