This Act may be cited as the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1919.

Section thirty-two of the Native Land Act, 1909, is hereby amended by substituting for the words “Chief Judge” in subsections three and four thereof the words “Judge for the time being for the Native Land Court district affected.”

Section one hundred and thirty of the Native Land Act, 1909, is hereby amended—

Section one hundred and thirty-one of the Native Land Act, 1909, is hereby amended by adding thereto the following subsection:—

The Native Land Court may, as part of any scheme for the consolidation of the interest of owners of Native land, by order lay out road-lines over any of the lands included in the scheme, or may create private rights-of-way as provided by subsection two of, section forty-eight of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913; and the Governor-General may, by Proclamation, at any time thereafter proclaim as a public road any road-line so laid out by the order, and the same shall thereupon vest in the Crown and become a public road accordingly.

It is hereby declared that the provisions of Part VII of the Native Land Act, 1909 (relating to exchange), shall apply to the Poukawa Native Reserve in the same manner in all respects as if the said reserve were Native freehold land, and the Native Land Court shall have jurisdiction accordingly.

Section six of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1915, is hereby amended by repealing the words “or in the East Coast Trust Lands Commissioner”; and by inserting, after the word “patriotic,” the words “or educational or charitable”; and by inserting, after the word “fund,” the words “or to such person or body.”

The East Coast Trust Lands Commissioner may, out of the accumulated funds or out of any moneys whatsoever due or payable to the beneficial owners of any land vested in or administered by him, retain and pay for patriotic purposes such amount and to such fund as he shall deem fit. Before any such amount shall be paid the approval of the Native Minister shall be obtained.

Subsection one of section twenty-nine of the Native Land Act, 1909, is hereby amended by the addition of the words “or by a Maori Land Board” after the words “Public Service,” and the words “or it” after the words “by him,” where they respectively occur in the said subsection.

Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that any owner of a block of Native land has paid out of his own moneys any survey charge or rates due in respect of such block, or has otherwise expended his own moneys for any purpose which in the Court’s opinion is for the benefit of the whole of the owners of such block, the Court may in its sole discretion award, upon partition, to such owner such area in addition to the area to which he would be entitled in exact accordance with his interest in the block as in the Court’s opinion would, be adequate to recompense him for the money so expended by him.

The Court may, upon application of the Chief Surveyor for the district in which the land, affected may be situated, cancel any order previously made by it laying out any road-line or right-of-way over or upon any land, and whether such road-line or right-of-way has been proclaimed a public road or not, provided that the Court is first satisfied that the road-line or right-of-way the subject of the order sought to be cancelled is no longer necessary or expedient.

In any order effecting a cancellation under this section the Court shall determine, according to the justice and equity of the particular case, the persons who should be the owners of the land which had been the subject of the cancelled order, and shall direct such to be vested in such persons accordingly.

Section eighty-eight of the Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act, 1916, is hereby revived as from the date of the expiry thereof, and shall continue in force until it is specifically repealed.

In lieu of granting land to any landless Natives pursuant to the said section eighty-eight, there may be paid to any such Natives such sums of money as may be appropriated for that purpose by Parliament.

Section twelve of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, as amended by section six of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1916, is hereby further amended by omitting from paragraph (b) the words “all the powers of administration and all the rights vested in, and all duties imposed upon, District Maori Land Boards in respect of Native lands vested in such Board by the Native Land Act, 1909, and the Acts amending the same, excepting the power of sale,” and substituting the words “such powers of administration and disposition by way of lease or license as may be conferred on it by the Governor-General in Council.”

All leases, licenses, and other instruments of title in respect of land subject to section twelve of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, as amended by this section, shall be executed and may be registered in the same manner as if the said land were Crown land disposed of under the Land Act, 1908.

All revenue derived by the Land Board from the administration of any such lands shall be paid into a separate account.

Where the beneficial owners have been ascertained, as referred to in paragraph (a) of section twelve of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, the net revenues, after deducting the reasonable costs of administration (including the cost of survey, reading, and other charges preliminary to the disposal of the land as aforesaid), shall be paid to those owners.

Where the beneficial owners have not been so ascertained the net revenue shall be held in trust for the persons who may thereafter be found to be beneficially entitled thereto:

Provided that such moneys may, pending the ascertainment of the persons so beneficially entitled, be invested in such manner as the Minister of Finance may approve.

The powers conferred on the Governor-General by paragraph (b) of section twelve of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, shall not be exercised in respect of lands for which a certificate of title has been issued, except on the petition of a majority of the beneficial owners.

Section six of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1916, is hereby amended by repealing paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) thereof.

Whereas recommendations have been made for the grant of certain land situated at Tennyson Inlet, in the Marlborough Land District, to certain landless Natives of the South Island: And whereas the said land is unsuitable for cultivation and is eminently suitable for reservation as a scenic reserve, and it is desired to reserve the same accordingly under the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908, and to make provision for the grant of money in lieu of land to the Natives aforesaid: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

There may be paid to or on behalf of the Natives aforesaid such sums of money as may be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose of compensating those Natives in respect of any equitable claims they may have for the grant of land pursuant to the recommendations aforesaid.

Paragraph (a) of subsection four of section ninety-six of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913, is hereby amended by adding thereto, after the word “alienation,” the words “unless the consent in writing of the lessee, licensee, or contractee for sale or other alienation of such land, or his assigns, is prior thereto filed with the Registrar of the Maori Land Board having jurisdiction where such land is situated.”

Section eight of the Maori Councils Amendment Act, 1903, and section sixteen of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1916, are hereby repealed.

Section sixty-eight of the Public Health Act, 1908, is hereby repealed, and the following substituted therefor:—

Whereas on the eighteenth day of June, nineteen hundred and eighteen, an Order in Council was issued purporting to confer jurisdiction on the Native Land Court under section twenty-five of the Native Land Act, 1909, with respect to the claim of Himiona Katipa and certain other Natives relative to the administration and disposition of a certain trust fund originally-derived from the sale of certain Native lands—namely, Okahuatiu No. 1, Okahuatiu No. 2, and Tangihanga Blocks: And whereas doubts have arisen as to the validity of the said Order in Council, and it is desired to settle the same: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the Native Land Court to hear and determine the claim of the said Himiona Katipa and certain other Natives in respect of the administration and disposition of a certain trust fund originally derived from the sale of the Okahuatiu No. 1, Okahuatiu No. 2, and Tangihanga Blocks, and in hearing and determining the said claim pursuant to this section the said Court shall, in addition to the special jurisdiction hereby conferred, have all the jurisdiction exercisable by the Supreme Court under the Judicature Act, 1908.

Notwithstanding that the piece of land called or known by the name of Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4 was by Order in Council bearing date the fourth day of May, nineteen hundred and eleven, vested in the Waiariki District Maori Land Board under Part XV of the Native Land Act, 1909, it is hereby declared that the said Waiariki District Maori Land Board shall in respect to a portion of the said land, being that portion included in a partition order bearing date the fourth day of September, nineteen hundred and fourteen, of the Native Land Court, and called or known as Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4b No. 1, be deemed to have had jurisdiction to entertain an application for confirmation and to grant a certificate of confirmation of an alienation by way of transfer of the said land from the Native owners thereof to one David Lundon, of. Rotorua, settler; and it is hereby further declared that, subject to payment of all survey costs and fees relating to the said piece of land known as Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4b N. 1, the certificate of confirmation hereinbefore referred to shall be sufficient authority to the District Land Registrar for the Land Registration District of Auckland to issue a certificate of title in favour of the said David Lundon for the said piece of land.

The Native Land Court is hereby authorized and directed to ascertain and determine who are the persons beneficially entitled to Section 81, Block XXV, Jacob’s River Hundred, containing fifty-nine acres three roods twenty-six perches, more or less, and the relative interests to which each of such persons is entitled, and to make order or orders accordingly.

Any such order shall he deemed to be a freehold order of the Court made on investigation of title, and shall be dealt with accordingly.

Whereas the land hereinafter described was, pursuant to the provisions of section three and of paragraph twelve of the First Schedule to the Special Powers and Contracts Act, 1886, conveyed by Alexander Douglas to the Public Trustee for an estate in fee-simple in trust for certain Natives of the Patuwai Tribe: And whereas by an order of the Native Land Court dated the sixteenth day of January, nineteen hundred and four, issued pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen of the Native Land Claims Adjustment and Laws Amendment Act, 1901, the names of the Native beneficiaries and their relative shares and interests in the said land were ascertained and determined: And whereas it is desirable, with the consent of the Public Trustee, to vest the said land in the Native beneficiaries aforesaid and to authorize the issue of a Land Transfer certificate of title in their names: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

The land hereinafter described is hereby vested in fee-simple in the persons whose names are included in an order of the Native Land Court dated the sixteenth day of January, nineteen hundred and four, for the relative shares and interests set forth therein respectively.

The District Land Registrar for the Auckland Land Registration District is hereby empowered and directed to cancel certificate of title, Volume 46, folio 184, Auckland Registry, issued to the Public Trustee, and to register the said order of the Native Land Court dated the sixteenth day of January, nineteen hundred and four, and thereupon to issue a certificate of title in the names of the Natives included in the said order for the relative shares and interests therein set forth, and subject to all valid encumbrances, liens, and interests affecting the said land.

All succession and partition orders heretofore made by the said Court with respect to the said land are hereby validated as from the making thereof.

The land to which this section relates is more particularly described as follows:—

All that, area in the Auckland Land District, containing by admeasurement one hundred and sixty-six acres, more or less, being the northern portion of Motiti B Block, and being the whole of the land comprised in certificate of title, Volume 46, folio 184, Auckland Land Registry.

Whereas portion of the land known as Rotohokahoka E Block, containing twenty acres, more or less, situated in Block XVI, Rotorua Survey District, was set aside by the owners thereof by request of the Ngati-Whakaue Tribe for the purposes of a combined Native and European cemetery: And whereas such land has been used by Europeans and Natives for over thirty years for the purposes of the above-mentioned cemetery, and there has been no proper control established during that period: And whereas on account of the rapid ettlement of population in the surrounding district it is expedient that some tribunal or Board of Trustees be legally established to effectively control the said cemetery: Now, therefore, the Judge of the Waiariki Native Land Court District is hereby authorized, after due inquiry, to make an order vesting the said cemetery on behalf of the Native owners thereof in a Board of Trustees composed of an equal number of Europeans and Natives, such Natives to be members of the Ngati-Whakaue Tribe, and also to make all necessary rules and regulations for the conduct of the said cemetery as he may deem fit.

Notwithstanding that the piece of land called or known by the name of Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4a was by Order in Council bearing date the fourth day of May, nineteen hundred and eleven, vested in the Waiariki District Maori Land Board under Part IV of the Native Land Act, 1909, it is hereby declared that the said Waiariki District Maori Land Board shall in respect to a portion of the said land, being that included in a partition order bearing date the second day of August, nineteen hundred and twelve, of the Native Land Court, and called or known as Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4A, be deemed to have had jurisdiction to entertain an application for confirmation and to grant a certificate of confirmation of an alienation of the said land from the Native owners to Jacob Barnett Kravis; and it is hereby further declared that, subject to payment of all survey costs and fees relating to the said piece of land known as Waiteti No. 2 Section 1b No. 4A, the certificate of confirmation hereinbefore referred to shall be a sufficient authority to the District Land Registrar to issue a certificate of title in favour of the said Jacob Barnett Kravis for the said piece of land.

Whereas at a meeting of Natives held at Gisborne during the month of April, nineteen hundred and nineteen, certain chiefs representing the Urewera Tribe publicly announced their intention to grant to the Maori Soldiers’ Fund Council (duly incorporated under the War Funds Act, 1915) the lease of three thousand acres of land in Ruatoki 2a and Ruatoki 3c Blocks, situated in the Urewera District Native Reserve, for the term of twenty-one years free of rent, with the right of renewal for a further term of twenty-one years at five per centum of the then unimproved value, as their contribution towards the Maori Soldiers’ Fund administered by the said Council for the benefit of Maori soldiers: And whereas the said Council is authorized to hold and farm land for the purposes of the said fund: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

Notwithstanding the provisions of any Act relating to lands in the Urewera District Native Reserve, the Maori Land Board of the Waiariki Maori Land District may, on the application of the said Council, convene a meeting of the owners of Ruatoki 2a and Ruatoki 3c Blocks to consider the hereinbefore-recited proposal.

In the event of the said proposal being approved by the said meeting, whether in respect of the said area of three thousand acres or any other area, the Board shall have power to grant a lease in terms of the proposal approved, and the provisions of Part XVIII of the Native Land Act, 1909, shall apply accordingly.

The provisions of any Act relating to limitation of area or to adequacy of consideration shall not apply so as to limit the powers of the Board to give effect to the provisions of this section, or so as to affect the validity of any lease granted thereunder, or the capacity of the said Council to hold such lease.

The District Land Registrar is hereby directed and authorized to register any instrument of title necessary to give effect to the provisions of this section, including the titles of the owners of the said lands.

The Native Land Court is hereby authorized and directed to ascertain and determine what Natives included in a certain agreement entered into between the Government and certain loyal claimants to the land known as Waikari-Mohaka, which agreement was declared by the Mohaka and Waikari District Act, 1870, to be and to have been valid since the thirteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy, have been omitted from the titles to Tarawera and Tatarakina Blocks, part of the said Waikari-Mohaka district, and to ascertain and determine the reasons for such omission and for the omission of the descendants of such Natives.

The Court shall report its findings to the Native Minister, together with such recommendations as it may think fit, and that report shall be laid before Parliament and be referred to the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.

Whereas part of the Arahura Native Reserve No. 30, referred to in the report of Mr. Commissioner Young dated the twenty-fifth day of February, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and published in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, No. G.–3B, 1879, Session II, and containing four hundred and seventeen acres, more or less, is vested in the Public Trustee under the provisions of the Native Reserves Act, 1882: And whereas such land has been used by the Native beneficial owners thereof as a commonage, and the Public Trustee has not exercised any of his powers in respect thereof, and it is considered desirable that the said land should be vested in such Native beneficial owners free from any control of the Public Trustee: Be it therefore enacted:—

The Public Trustee shall forthwith upon the coming into operation of this Act forward to the Chief Judge of the Native Land Court a description of the land hereinbefore referred to and intended to be dealt with under this section, and a list of the Native owners so far as the same are known to the Public Trustee, and the Native Land Court shall thereupon, without further application or direction, according as far as practicable to its usual practice, subject, however, to any regulations that may be made under this section, proceed to partition the same among the Native owners thereof; and the Chief Judge of the said Court shall take all the necessary steps for a holding of a sitting of the Court for that purpose; and the said Court shall have jurisdiction from time to time to make any necessary partitions of the said land, to appoint successors of any deceased Native owners, and to make any reservations for church-sites or burial-grounds or for any other purpose whatsoever as it shall deem necessary; and upon such partition the land comprised therein shall vest at law in the Native owners thereof in accordance with the partition orders to be made by the Native Land Court; and the District Land Registrar of the district in which such land is situate shall thereupon issue certificates of title to the Native owners entitled thereto free and discharged from all restrictions against alienation.

On the making of the said partition orders the said lands shall cease to be vested in the Public Trustee, and the Public Trustee shall have no control over the said land or any portion thereof.

The Public Trustee shall be under no liability as regards payment of any costs, charges, or fees in connection with the said partitions or the issue of the said certificates of title.

Section eleven of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1912, as amended-by section thirteen of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, shall apply to the reserve known as Rangataua, near Nuhaka, which was set aside for general Native purposes, and the Native Land Court shall have jurisdiction accordingly on the application of the Minister of Lands.

The Public Trustee is hereby authorized and directed to disburse among the Native beneficial owners (after deducting the costs and charges of the Public Trustee in accordance with the regulations of the Public Trust Office) all compensation-moneys received by him in respect of the taking under the Public Works Act, 1908, by the Palmerston North Borough Council of Sections 237, 238, and 239, Palmerston North Native Reserve.

Whereas claims have been made on behalf of Natives of the Aupouri Tribe that the Island of Motuopao, upon which the Cape Maria van Diemen Lighthouse is erected, was not included in the original purchase by the Crown of the adjoining lands: And whereas the Native Minister on behalf of His Majesty, while insisting that the title of the Crown to the said island is indisputable, has agreed to provide a sum of one hundred and fifty pounds to be applied at the request of representative members of the said Aupouri Tribe as by this section is provided upon the understanding that all such claims shall be deemed finally settled and disposed of: Be it therefore enacted that in pursuance of the said agreement there may be paid out of the Consolidated Fund, without further appropriation than this Act, the sum of one hundred pounds to the trustees of the fund known as the Ngapuhi Patriotic Fund, and a further sum of fifty pounds to the Reverend Mutu Kapa, Eru Ihaka, and Murupaenga Rewiri, all of Te Kao.

Whereas Patrick Joseph Kerr, of Taumarunui, stable-keeper, is the lessee under a memorandum of lease dated the thirtieth day of March, nineteen hundred and ten, from Tutahanga te Wano and other Native owners of the said land known as Lot 2 of Rangitoto-Tuhua 74B, Section 1, containing eight hundred and seventy-three acres three roods twenty-seven perches: And whereas the said memorandum of lease was confirmed by the Waikato-Maniapoto District Maori Land Board on the twenty-second day of April, nineteen hundred and eleven, by order under its seal: And whereas by reason of the vesting of the said land in the said District Maori Land Board on the fourteenth day of December, nineteen hundred and nine (being a date prior to the date of the said memorandum of lease), the District Land Registrar has refused to register the said memorandum of lease: And whereas the said Patrick Joseph Kerr obtained in good faith the execution of the said memorandum of lease by all the Native owners of the said land entitled to the ownership thereof before the vesting of the said land in the Board, and has in like good faith expended moneys in the improvement of the said land: Be it enacted that the said memorandum of lease shall be valid and binding as from the date thereof on the Waikato-Maniapoto District Maori Land Board as if the same had been granted by and executed by the said Board; and the said Board shall be entitled to exercise the same powers, rights, and remedies as lessor, and the confirmation order shall for all purposes have the same force and effect in law, as if the said lease had been duly granted by the said Board and formally executed by it; and the said Board or the lessee shall be entitled to have the said lease registered accordingly.

The time within which application may be made under section seven of the Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1910, in respect of the Opoutama Reserve is hereby further extended until the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty.

The Governor-General in Council is hereby authorized and empowered, if he shall think fit, from time to time to approve and consent to any deed or agreement made or to be made between the Tongariro Timber Company (Limited) and the Egmont Box Company (Limited); and any such deed or agreement if so approved and consented to shall, as from the date of such approval and consent, and notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement between the Tongariro Timber Company (Limited) and any Maori Land Board, and notwithstanding that either of the said companies may not have power under its memorandum of association to enter into such deed or agreement or confer or obtain the rights and powers thereby purported to be conferred or obtained, and notwithstanding any antecedent or subsequent default or breach by the Tongariro Timber Company (Limited) in respect of any of its said agreements with the Maori Land Board, be valid and binding in all respects and for all purposes whatsoever according to its tenor on the parties thereto, and all parties claiming under them, and on all parties affected thereby, including the Aotea District Maori Land Board, the Native owners, and the holders of any series of debentures issued by the Tongariro Timber Company (Limited), provided-that the trustees for such debenture-holders shall have consented to, and that the Aotea District Maori Land Board shall have approved, such deed or agreement; and the provisions of subsection three of section five of the Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1914 (and the other provisions of that section so far as the same are applicable), shall apply to any such deed or agreement as aforesaid in the same manner as such provisions were declared by the said Act to apply to the agreement mentioned therein of the ninth day of September, nineteen hundred and fourteen, to the intent that the said Egmont Box Company (Limited) shall have in all respects as full and complete protection in respect of the rights conferred, or purporting to be conferred, upon it by any such deed or agreement as aforesaid as it had in respect of its rights under the agreement of the said ninth day of September, nineteen hundred and fourteen, by virtue of the said section five of the Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1914; and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Land Transfer Act, 1915, or any other Act, the District Land Registrars are hereby expressly empowered and directed (without requiring any declaration which but for the provisions of this section might have been required) to register on presentation any such deed or agreement as aforesaid, or any document, instrument, or assurance made or given in pursuance thereof against the title to any lands affected thereby as if the same were an instrument or instruments within the meaning of the Land Transfer Act, 1915; and such registration shall have the same effect in conferring priority of title as against any unregistered right, title, or interest, and in all other respects as if such registration were the registration of a disposition of a legal estate in the land.

Whereas the Native owners of certain lands in the vicinity of Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoehu, in the Auckland Land District, have offered to cede portions of those lands to the Crown, to be held by the Crown as scenic reserves under the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908: And whereas it is desired to accept such offer, and to establish a special Board for the administration, protection, and control of those lands as scenic reserves: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

The lands to be ceded to the Crown as hereinbefore recited shall be determined by the Native owners or their representatives, and the boundaries of those lands shall thereupon be defined by the Crown by survey.

Upon the completion of such survey a plan shall be prepared and deposited in the Head Office of the Department of Lands and Survey, at Wellington, showing the boundaries of the lands proposed to be ceded by the Natives as aforesaid, and thereupon the Governor-General may, by Proclamation, declare that the said lands shall be deemed to have been duly ceded to the Crown by the Native owners thereof, and on the issue of such Proclamation the said lands shall vest in His Majesty, to be held by him in perpetuity in trust as scenic reserves subject to the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908.

Notwithstanding the cession to His Majesty of any lands under this section, the former Native owners thereof shall have at all times free right of access to any ancestral burial-grounds that may be included therein, and shall also have the right to bury deceased Natives in any such burial-grounds.

For the administration of the reserves ceded to His Majesty pursuant to this section the Governor-General shall, acting under the authority of section thirteen of the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908, appoint a special Board of Control, consisting of not less than six persons, of whom five shall be members of the Ngatipikiao Tribe.

If on the issue of a Proclamation under this section any lands to which that Proclamation relates are subject to any lease or other interest vested in any person other than the Native owners, that lease or interest shall thereupon be deemed to be determined, and compensation in respect thereof shall be payable to the persons entitled thereto as if the land had been taken as for a public work under the Public Works Act, 1908.

The Chief Judge is hereby authorized to refer to the Native Land Court, or to any Judge or Commissioner thereof, for inquiry and report, the claims and allegations made by the petitioners in the petitions mentioned in the Schedule hereto.

The Chief Judge may, upon such inquiry and report, make to the Native Minister such recommendation in any case as appears to accord with the equities of the case.

The report and recommendation under this section shall be laid before Parliament on as early a date as possible, and shall be referred to the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.