September 17, 2015
Maori land court judges concerns are being addressed
Minister for Maori Development Te Ururoa Flavell says concerns by Maori Land Court judges about Maori land law reform are being addressed by officials working on the Bill..
The judges told the Ministerial Advisory group the Bill would not achieve the objectives it set and introduced significant uncertainty and risk into the process of managing Maori land.
Mr Flavell says the judges' view was being assessed along with those of 400 other submitters.
He rejects their view that the court will be locked out of oversight of Maori land.
"The hope will be the Bill affirms the role of the Maori Land Court to settle claims to ownership or interests in Maori land, determine the status of Maori land, grant access to landlocked Maori freehold land and correct inaccuracies in the Maori land register. The court simply will no longer near proceedings of a regular nature or governance structures. That is just some of the detail we have to work through. i am comfortable with them putting up issues but I am also comfortable with the fact we are working through them," Mr Flavell says.
The Waitangi Tribunal is today considering whether to give urgency to a claim against the reform process.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MINISTER FOR MAORI DEVELOPMENT TE URUROA FLAVELL CLICK ON THE LINK
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