In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

For the purposes of the definition herein of the term “prescribed maximum,” in its application to any land, the land shall be classified in the manner provided by section one hundred and seven of the Land Act, 1924, save that for the purposes of this section one acre of first-class land shall be reckoned as equivalent to two and a half acres of second-class land, or to six and a quarter acres of third-class land, and one acre of second-class land shall be reckoned as equivalent to two and a half acres of third-class land.

There shall be an officer of the Public Service to be called the Land Purchase Controller, who shall have such duties as may from time to time be lawfully conferred on him with respect to the purchase of land by the Crown under the provisions in that behalf of this Act.

For the purposes of this Act there shall be a Board, to be called the Dominion Land Purchase Board, consisting of—

Meetings of the Board may be summoned by the Land Purchase Controller, who shall be the Chairman of the Board and shall preside at all meetings at which he is present.

Three members of the Board shall form a quorum.

Subject to the provisions hereinafter set forth as to the appointment and functions of Local Land Purchase Boards, it shall be the duty of the Dominion Land Purchase Board to undertake, control, and carry out all negotiations for the purchase of land by the Crown under this Act, and the performance and completion of all contracts of purchase so entered into by the Crown.

For the purpose of assisting in and expediting the purchase of lands by the Crown there may be appointed for any land district one or more Local Land Purchase Boards, as may be required.

Every Local Land Purchase Board shall consist of—

Members of the Dominion Land Purchase Board shall by virtue of their office be deemed to be members of every Local Land Purchase Board.

If the Land Purchase Controller is present at any meeting of a Local Land Purchase Board he shall have the right to preside thereat. In every other case the Commissioner of Crown Lands (who shall be the official Chairman of the Board) shall preside at all meetings of the Board at which he is present.

Three members of a Local Land Purchase Board shall form a quorum, and no business shall be transacted at any meeting of such Board unless at least a quorum is present thereat.

No person who is carrying on business as a land agent, either by himself or in partnership with any other person, or who is the holder of a license as a land agent on behalf of any company, shall be eligible to be appointed or to continue to be a member of the Dominion Land Purchase Board or of any Local Land Purchase Board.

Every appointed member of the Dominion Land Purchase Board or of a Local Land Purchase Board shall be appointed for a term of two years, save that he may be reappointed, or may be at any time removed from office by the Governor-General for inefficiency, disability, insolvency, neglect of duty, or misconduct proved to the satisfaction of the Governor-General, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Minister.

Members of the Dominion Land Purchase Board or of any Local Land Purchase Board, not being officers of the Public Service, may be paid such remuneration by way of salary or allowances as may from time to time be approved by the Minister out of moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

Any Local Land Purchase Board may, within the land district for which it is appointed, perform such of the functions of the Dominion Land Purchase Board as may be conferred on it by delegation from that Board.

Private land may, in the manner and subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, be acquired on behalf of His Majesty under this Act for any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

For the purposes of this Act the Minister may from time to time direct the Dominion Land Purchase Board to negotiate with the owner of any private land for the purchase thereof at such price, or for its exchange for other land of equivalent value, as may in each case be agreed upon between the owner and that Board.

It shall be the duty of the Dominion Land Purchase Board to ascertain, by the valuation of one or more competent valuers and by such other means as it thinks fit, the value of any private land proposed to be acquired under this Act, and to report to the Minister as to its character and suitableness for settlement, and as to the demand for land for settlement in the locality where it is proposed to acquire the same.

In any case where land is taken or acquired under the provisions of this Act the Minister shall offer such sum as he thinks fit, and if such offer is not accepted by the owner, then the compensation payable shall be ascertained by the Court in the manner prescribed by this Act.

Upon the written recommendation by the Dominion Land Purchase Board that any private land is suitable and should be acquired for any of the purposes of this Act, the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, may conclude the acquisition thereof by purchase or exchange at a price or land-equivalent not exceeding that recommended by the Board, and may execute all deeds and instruments and do and perform all acts necessary for the completion of any such purchase or exchange.

Such land-equivalent may be either land subject to this Act or Crown land not subject to this Act:

Provided that in the latter case its value shall be fixed by the Minister after considering the report of the Land Board, and the amount of such value shall, on the completion of the exchange, be paid out of the Land for Settlements Account, and be applied in like manner as if the land had been duly sold for cash in terms of the Land Act.

In acquiring land voluntarily under this Act the Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the Dominion Land Purchase Board, agree with the seller of the land that he shall receive and accept as part of the consideration for the sale thereof a lease or license under Part III, Part V, or Part VI of the Land Act, 1924, of or in respect of such area and for such term as the said Board thinks fit, not exceeding the maximum area or term prescribed with respect to such leases or licenses by the said Act; and any such lease or license may be by way of extension of a lease or license which has not yet expired.

On any such agreement being entered into it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, when so required by the Minister, to carry it into effect by executing a lease or license in accordance with the terms thereof.

Where the Dominion Land Purchase Board has recommended the acquisition of any land it shall be lawful for the Minister, or any person appointed by him in that behalf, to purchase that land for the purposes of this Act at any auction sale:

Provided that the purchase-money shall not in any case exceed the amount recommended by the said Board.

If the Governor-General in Council decides to acquire any land so recommended and the owner refuses to sell or exchange, or if it appears to the Governor-General that no agreement for sale or exchange can be come to, the Governor-General may take such land compulsorily in the manner and subject to the conditions hereinafter contained:

Provided that nothing in this Act shall be deemed to authorize the compulsory acquisition of lands set aside as endowments or reserves.

Except in the case of land taken under the next succeeding section, the right to take land compulsorily under this Act shall be subject to the following limitations, that is to say:—

For the purpose of providing sites for workers’ homes, land may be compulsorily taken within any borough having a population of not less than fifteen thousand inhabitants according to the latest census returns, or within a radius of fifteen miles from the boundary of any such borough, subject, however, to the following special provisions:—

The provisions of the last preceding section shall not apply with respect to the acquisition of land under this section.

In order to prevent any evasion or avoidance of the provisions of this Act as to the right of the owner to select and retain any limited part of any estate intended to be acquired under this Act, it is hereby declared that the area of the whole estate shall be computed as at the commencement of the negotiations for the purchase under this Act, and no subsequent disposition of the estate or any part thereof shall operate to defeat the power of the Governor-General to acquire the land under this Act.

The date at which negotiations for the purchase shall be deemed to commence shall be the date upon which notice was given under the hand of the Land Purchase Controller or other person duly authorized in that behalf intimating to the owner that the Governor-General had decided to acquire the land.

If the Governor-General does not proceed with the purchase, and the land is not acquired by him within twelve months after the date of the notice mentioned in the last preceding subsection, then the restriction on the disposition of the land under that subsection shall cease to have effect.

In every case where land is taken compulsorily under this Act the owner of the land taken, and also every other person having any estate or interest therein (hereinafter referred to as the claimant), shall, according to their respective estates or interests in the land taken, or in land injuriously affected thereby, be entitled to full compensation from His Majesty in respect thereof.

The land shall be taken and the compensation in respect thereof shall be claimed, determined, and paid in the manner and subject to the provisions hereinafter contained.

Whenever it is intended to take land compulsorily under this Act the Minister shall cause notice of such intention to be gazetted.

Such notice (hereinafter called the requisition) may be in the prescribed form, and shall specify the acreage and description of the land, its classification, and the name and address of its owner, and shall require every claimant to serve his claim for compensation on the Minister in the form and manner and within the period hereinafter provided.

Within twenty-one days after the gazetting of the requisition the Minister shall serve the same on the owner of the land to be taken, and also on every other person who, so far as is known to the Minister, has any estate or interest therein.

The service may be effected by serving a copy of the requisition as gazetted.

The requisition, when served, shall be accompanied by a plan and description setting forth the acreage and the Minister’s classification of the land to be taken, if it is the whole of an estate, and its acreage, position, and classification if it is part of an estate.

Not later than forty-two days after the gazetting of the requisition, in the case of a claimant who at the time of the gazetting was in New Zealand, or one hundred and fifty days in any other case, every claimant shall serve on the Minister a claim in the prescribed form, setting forth, with all such plans, descriptions, and particulars as the circumstances may require,—

The claimant shall, not later than twenty-one days after service of the claim for compensation, file in the office of the Supreme Court in the district within which the land proposed to be taken is situate, or if there are more such offices than one, then in the office nearest to the land,—

Within twenty-one days after receiving the notice of the appointment of the claimant’s assessor the Minister shall also file in the office of the said Court a notice stating the name and address of the person whom he appoints to act as his assessor, and shall serve a copy of such notice on the claimant.

If the claimant makes default in making or serving his claim, or if the claimant or the Minister makes default in appointing an assessor, or in doing any other act, matter, or thing by this Act required or directed to be done, then, on summary application in that behalf by the party not in default, the Chief Justice may, on such terms as to costs and otherwise as he thinks fit, appoint an assessor, or give such directions and make such orders as in his opinion are necessary or expedient to enable the claim to be heard and determined by the Compensation Court, and, if the default consists of not making or serving the claim, to enable the order referred to in paragraph (a) of section thirty-four hereof to be made and acted upon in the absence of the claim as fully and effectually as if the claim were properly before the Court.

Every claim for compensation under this Act shall be deemed a claim for compensation within the meaning of the Public Works Act, 1908, and all the provisions of that Act, save in so far as the same are modified by this Act, shall apply thereto for all purposes in like manner as if the land to be taken under this Act were land taken for a Government work under that Act:

Provided that in the application to any matter under this Act of the provisions of section forty-one of the said Act it shall not be necessary for the Minister, on making application to a Judge of the Supreme Court as provided for in that section, to offer the amount of compensation in the matter.

With respect to proceedings for the compulsory taking of land the following provisions shall apply:—

The President of the Court shall in each case be the Chief Justice, or such Judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice deputes in that behalf.

On the application of the Minister, or of any claimant concerned, the Court shall, if necessary, determine in the first place all questions of disputed classification.

When the classification has been determined as aforesaid the claimant and the Minister may, on application to the Court in that behalf, and within such time not exceeding twenty-one days as is fixed by the Court, respectively amend the claim and requisition by filing and serving notices of such amendment in the prescribed manner:

Provided that the classification as fixed by the Court shall not be altered in any such amended claim or requisition.

The amendment of the requisition need not be gazetted.

The claim and requisition and all matters connected therewith shall then be determined by the Court in manner following, that is to say:—

At any time before an order fixing the compensation to be paid in respect of the compulsory taking of any land has been made under the last preceding section, the Minister may discontinue the proceedings on terms of paying costs and expenses as hereinafter provided.

The discontinuance shall be effected by gazetting a notice under the hand of the Minister that the requisition has been revoked and the proceedings discontinued.

A copy of such notice shall be filed in the Court or office in which claims and notices may be filed under section forty-six of the Public Works Act, 1908, and a copy shall be served on each claimant at his address so far as known.

The claimants shall be entitled to payment of the proper costs and expenses incurred up to the date of the discontinuance, and the amount thereof shall, where necessary, be fixed by the President of the Compensation Court, if that Court has been constituted, or if not, then by a Judge of the Supreme Court, or as such President or Judge directs.

The claimants shall be entitled to include as expenses any loss directly and reasonably caused in connection with the working of the land by reason of the requisition and the proceedings thereon.

The compensation payable in respect or by reason of the compulsory taking of land under this Act shall be assessed and determined in accordance with the provisions of this section and not otherwise.

The compensation so payable shall be separately assessed in respect of the unimproved value of the land so taken, and in respect of the improvements thereon, in manner provided by this section.

The unimproved value of the land shall be deemed to be the amount at which the unimproved value is assessed in the district valuation roll in force under the Valuation of Land Act, 1908, at the time when the requisition for the taking of the land is gazetted. The unimproved value so assessed in the said valuation roll is hereinafter referred to as the Government valuation.

If the land so taken or any part thereof is not separately valued in the said valuation roll, but is only a part of a larger area which is so valued, the unimproved value of the part so taken shall be deemed to be such proportion of the Government valuation of the said larger area as the Court determines to be fairly attributable to the part so taken.

The value of the improvements on any land compulsorily taken as aforesaid shall be assessed, as at the date of the gazetting of the said requisition, in manner provided by the Public Works Act, 1908, in its application to this Act.

In every case there shall be added to the total amount payable under this section in respect of the unimproved value of the land a further sum calculated as follows:—

The owner of any estate or interest separately valued in the said valuation roll may from time to time give notice in writing to the Valuer-General that he requires such valuation, so far as it relates to the unimproved value of the land, to be increased to an amount named in the said notice, and the Valuer-General shall thereupon increase the said valuation accordingly, and shall make a corresponding increase in the valuation of the capital value of the land, and shall insert in a subsidiary roll the said valuations as so increased. The increased valuations so inserted in the said subsidiary roll shall for the purposes of this section, and also for the purposes of the assessment of land-tax, be deemed to be substituted for the valuation contained in the district valuation roll, and shall have for the said purposes the same effect and operation as if made by the Valuer-General in accordance with the provisions of the Valuation of Land Act, 1908, and inserted in the district valuation roll accordingly.

The subsidiary roll shall not be available for any purpose other than those mentioned in the last preceding subsection.

Every notice requiring an increase of valuation in manner aforesaid shall be given to the Valuer-General either in the month of March in any year or (in the case of any revision of the valuation of the said land in the district valuation roll) within one month after the date of the advertisement published by the Valuer-General in pursuance of section twelve of the Valuation of Land Act, 1908.

No requisition for the taking of any land shall be gazetted at any time during the month of March in any year or (in the case of any such revision as aforesaid) within one month after the date of the advertisement mentioned in the last preceding subsection.

In this section the terms “improvements” and “unimproved value” have the same meanings as in the Valuation of Land Act, 1908.

Where the district valuation roll contains separate valuations of the unimproved value of any land in respect of the separate interests of two or more persons therein, the unimproved value of that land shall be deemed to be the aggregate amount of such separate valuations.

In every case there shall be added to the total amount of compensation payable under the foregoing provisions a sum equal to two per centum thereof by way of compensation for the compulsory taking of the said land, and by way of compensation for any loss or injury that may be suffered in consequence of such taking, whether in respect of the land so taken or in any other respect.

The increased valuations appearing in the subsidiary roll referred to in the last preceding section shall in each case cease to have effect, and accordingly shall be cancelled, in any of the following events, that is to say:—

Forthwith upon the cancellation of such increased valuation as aforesaid the district valuation roll shall again apply to the land, and accordingly fresh valuations shall, where necessary, be made by the Valuer-General for the purposes of that roll.

All such fresh valuations shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Valuation of Land Act, 1908.

The provisions of subsections seven to nine of the last preceding section shall extend and apply to cases where the owner desires that the increased valuation appearing on the subsidiary roll be further increased.

Save in accordance with this section, any increased or further increased valuation appearing on a subsidiary roll shall not be reduced.

At any time before the gazetting of the Proclamation referred to in the next succeeding section the Court may of its own motion, or on the application of the Minister or any party concerned, make a supplementary order for the purpose of remedying any defect in or of giving fuller effect to the original order referred to in paragraph (a) of section thirty-four hereof.

As soon as conveniently may be after the expiration of twenty-one days from the making of such original order or supplementary order the Governor-General shall, by Proclamation, declare that the land specified in that behalf in the Proclamation (being the land which by virtue of the said order or supplementary order the Minister is entitled or required to take, as the case may be) is compulsorily taken under this Act.

On a date to be specified in the Proclamation in that behalf the land therein specified as aforesaid shall by force of this Act become and be deemed to be absolutely vested in His Majesty, freed and discharged from all other estates and from all encumbrances, liens, claims, and interests whatsoever.

The compensation-money shall in every case be deemed to be payable on the date on which effective possession of the land acquired is given to His Majesty.

In any case where, for any reason not imputable to the act, neglect, or default of the person entitled, any compensation-money is not duly paid or satisfied on the date when it becomes payable, then, for the period elapsing between that date and the date when the money is duly paid or satisfied, interest thereon at such rate as is agreed on, or as in default of agreement is fixed by the Court, shall also be payable.

At any time before the Proclamation takes effect the owner may give notice in writing to the Minister that he elects to remain in possession of the land specified in the Proclamation for a period to be stated in such notice, not exceeding twelve months from the date on which the Proclamation so takes effect, and he shall thereupon have a right to occupy such land for the period so stated, subject to the following conditions:—

At any time within twenty-one days after the making of the order referred to in paragraph (b) of section thirty-four hereof the Court may of its own motion, or on the application of the Minister or of any party concerned, make a supplementary order for the purpose of remedying any defect in or of giving fuller effect to the original order.

For the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of land under this Act the Minister of Finance, on being authorized so to do by the Governor-General in Council, may from time to time raise, on the security of and charged upon the public revenues of New Zealand, such sums of money as he thinks fit, not exceeding in each financial year the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

The sums so raised shall bear interest at such rate as the Minister of Finance prescribes.

This Act shall be deemed to be an authorizing Act within the meaning of the New Zealand Loans Act, 1908, and the moneys hereby authorized to be raised shall be raised under and subject to the provisions of that Act accordingly.

All moneys raised as aforesaid shall, as and when raised, be paid into the Public Account to the credit of a separate account called the Land for Settlements Account, and with respect to such separate account and the moneys therein the following provisions shall at all times apply:—

For the purposes of this section the expenses of administration shall include any expenses incurred in advertising land for disposal under this Act, and shall also include any expenses incurred in the administration of any land after its disposal as aforesaid, whether in respect of the collection of rents, the inspection of such land, or otherwise howsoever:

Provided that no sums shall in any year be paid out of the Land for Settlements Account in respect of the administration of land so disposed of in excess of two and a half per centum of the total amount of rent paid into that account in the same year.

Except where otherwise expressly provided by this Act, all moneys payable out of the Land for Settlements Account may be paid without further appropriation than this Act.

The total amount of all sums expended and liabilities incurred for the acquisition of land in any one financial year shall not exceed the total amount which may be raised in that year under the provisions of the last preceding section, together with the balance for the time being unexpended in the Land for Settlements Account.

Out of the moneys raised under section forty-four hereof there shall be set aside in each financial year a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

The moneys so set aside shall be expended, under the authority of the Minister, in the formation and construction of roads and bridges within or affording access to or in draining blocks of Crown land or of other land administered by a Land Board pursuant to any Act, or in defraying the cost of survey of any such last-mentioned land:

Provided that in no case shall any such money be expended in connection with any block of land unless that block is set apart for selection subject to the special provisions of this section.

Before any such works as aforesaid are commenced with respect to any block the Surveyor-General shall report to the Minister on the value of the block, and on the description and estimated cost of the roads and bridges or of the drainage-works which in his opinion should be formed and constructed for the purpose of opening up the block for settlement.

The total amount of moneys expended as aforesaid in opening up any block (together with interest thereon at the rate of five per centum per annum) shall be allocated to the sections or other subdivisions of that block in such amounts as the Minister directs, having regard to the relative extent to which the sections or subdivisions have been benefited by the expenditure of the money.

The sum so allocated to each section or subdivision is hereby charged thereon, and shall be taken into account in fixing the price, value, or rent at which the land is disposed of; and what would otherwise be that price, value, or rent shall be increased accordingly.

Out of the purchase-money, rent, or other proceeds received in respect of the disposal of the land subject to such charge a duly proportionate part shall be applied in or towards satisfaction of the charge, and shall be paid into the Land for Settlements Account.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time make regulations prescribing—

The Minister shall prepare and lay before Parliament, within fourteen days after the commencement of its first session in each financial year, a statement showing, for the last preceding financial year,—

All land acquired under this Act shall, when so acquired, be deemed to be Crown land subject to this Act.

A notification in the Gazette by the Minister that any Crown land is subject to this Act shall be sufficient evidence of the fact.

All lands notified as open for sale by auction or lease under this Act and not disposed of on the day mentioned in such notification shall remain open for selection by lease at the rental specified in the notification, or shall remain open for sale on application at the upset price at which the said lands were offered at auction.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the last preceding section, the Governor-General may, by Proclamation, declare any land acquired under this Act or any former Land for Settlements Act to be ordinary Crown land or national-endowment land available for disposal under the Land Act, 1924.

Where any settlement land is declared to be ordinary Crown land or national-endowment land as aforesaid, the Minister of Finance may, in manner provided by the next succeeding subsection, transfer to the Land for Settlements Account, without further authority than this section, an amount not exceeding the amount of the moneys expended out of the Land for Settlements Account in respect of the acquisition of the said land or otherwise in connection therewith.

All moneys transferred to the Land for Settlements Account pursuant to this section in respect of any land shall be paid out of the National Endowment Trust Account or the Native Land Settlement Account, as may be deemed appropriate, having regard to the manner in which that land has been or is to be disposed of under the Land Act.

In any case where the revenues derivable from any land to which this section refers on its disposal under the Land Act are payable into the Consolidated Fund, no adjustment of accounts shall be made by way of transfer from the Consolidated Fund to the Land for Settlements Account, but there may be appropriated from moneys paid into the Land for Settlements Account in respect of the sale of Crown lands an amount sufficient to satisfy the charges incurred by that account in respect of the said land.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, it shall not be lawful for any person, or the wife or husband of any person, who holds any estate or interest in any allotment of land, which is or was at any time settlement land, to acquire any estate or interest in any other allotment which is or was at any time settlement land:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply or be deemed to have applied to any allotment of land not exceeding five acres in extent, and shall not apply in any particular case if the Minister, on the recommendation of the Dominion Land Purchase Board, so determines.

The provisions of subsections two and three of section eighty-five of this Act (relating to the endorsement of restrictive memoranda on certificates of title affected by that section) shall also apply with respect to the restrictions imposed by this section as if they were incorporated herein, and shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be so incorporated.

Any settlement land may, if the Minister so determines, be disposed of by way of sale in fee-simple.

Where settlement land is disposed of by way of sale pursuant to the last preceding section the following provisions shall apply:—

Every purchaser of settlement land under this section who makes any disposition of his allotment or any part thereof, whether by way of sale or lease, shall be disqualified for a period of ten years after the date of such disposition from acquiring any Crown land or settlement land, or any interest therein respectively:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent the acquisition of any lease or license by any executor, administrator, trustee, or beneficiary under any will or intestacy.

Subject to any special provision of this Act as to leases in special cases, the following general provisions shall apply in every case where settlement land is to be disposed of by way of lease, that is to say:—

Any settlement land may be disposed of by way of renewable lease in accordance with the provisions of Part III of the Land Act, 1924, but subject to the provisions hereinafter contained.

The term of the lease shall be thirty-three years, with a perpetual right of renewal for further successive terms of thirty-three years.

Every such lease shall be granted at a yearly rental of five per centum of the capital value of the land.

Such capital value shall be fixed by the Minister, and shall be not less than sufficient to cover the cost of the acquisition of the land, together with the cost of survey, roading, subdivision, and other works and operations done on the land, the value of so much of the land as is required for roads and reserves other than reserves made under section seventy-one hereof, and the estimated cost of administration:

Provided that the Minister may, on the recommendation of the Land Board, reduce the capital value of any allotment to such amount as he thinks fit in any case where the allotment remains unselected for a period of more than three months after the date when it became available for selection.

All rent shall, as and when received, be paid into the Land for Settlements Account.

The provisions of section one hundred and eighty-six of the Land Act, 1924 (relating to the improvements required to be made by the holders of renewable leases of ordinary Crown land), shall extend and apply with respect to renewable leases of settlement land:

Provided that in any case where the Land Board, having regard to the nature and situation of the land and to the extent to which it has already been improved, is of opinion that the provisions of the said section should be modified, it may, with the approval of the Minister, modify the same in such manner and to such extent as it thinks fit.

On the renewal of any renewable lease of settlement land the rental shall be determined as in the case of a renewable lease of Crown land under Part III of the Land Act, 1924, save that the said rental may amount to but shall not exceed four pounds ten shillings per centum of the then value of the land as determined in accordance with the provisions of the said Part in the case of the renewal of leases granted before the commencement of this Act, or five per centum of that value in any other case.

Subject to the provisions contained in this Act, all the provisions of Part III of the Land Act, 1924, with respect to renewable leases (except the provisions of sections one hundred and eighty-five and two hundred and fourteen of that Act) shall apply to renewable leases of settlement land.

Pastoral land acquired under this Act or subject to the provisions thereof and not suitable for close settlement may be disposed of by way of renewable lease, in accordance with the provisions of the last preceding section, in such areas as the Land Board, with the approval of the Governor-General, thinks necessary for the profitable occupation thereof, although such areas may exceed the limits of area permissible independently of this section.

To any such area of pastoral land there may be added any low-lying settlement land which the Land Board, with the approval of the Governor-General, considers necessary for the proper working of the said pastoral land, whether such low-lying land is or is not contiguous thereto.

Before any settlement land is opened for public selection the Land Board may, with the approval of the Minister, and subject to the provisions of this section, grant a renewable lease of any allotment thereof without competition to any person who has been continuously employed on the said land by the late owner thereof for at least five years immediately preceding its acquisition and who by such acquisition is deprived of his employment. Such lease shall be granted at an annual rental of five per centum of the capital value of the land as fixed by the Minister in accordance with this Act.

Any person to whom a lease is granted under this section shall be required to make the necessary declaration and otherwise to comply with the conditions required to be performed by applicants for Crown lands.

If at any time any lessee satisfies the Land Board that the area held by him is too limited, having regard to the quality of the land, for the sufficient maintenance of himself and his family, the Board may, with the consent of the Minister, allow him to take up such additional area as the Board thinks fit.

In addition to the powers conferred by the last preceding subsection the Land Board may, with the consent of the Minister, dispose of any land without competition to the occupier of any adjoining settlement land if it is satisfied, having regard to the situation, configuration, or area of the land, or the means of access thereto, that it is expedient so to do.

Any allotment of settlement land situated within a town, as defined by the Land Act, 1924, which remains unselected for a period of more than one year from the date when it became available for selection may be leased for grazing purposes for any period not exceeding five years to any applicant who makes the declaration prescribed for applicants for Crown land, whether or not such applicant already holds another allotment of settlement land.

Such lease may be determined at any time by three months’ written notice of intention to do so being given by the Commissioner to the lessee.

The lessee shall not be entitled to compensation for any improvements he may effect upon the allotment, but he may remove any such improvements prior to the expiry of his lease, whether by determination or effluxion of time.

In order to encourage the punctual payment of rent the following special provisions shall apply in the case of settlement land heretofore or hereafter disposed of by way of lease:—

In the event of any lessee being unable at any time, through any natural disaster or other sufficient cause, to pay the rent due under his lease the Minister, acting on the recommendation of the Land Board, and on being satisfied that it would be reasonable and equitable to afford relief, may, without further authority than this section, remit a year’s rent, or such portion of a year’s rent as he deems reasonable.

Relief under this section shall not be given to any lessee who is over twelve months in arrear with his rent.

In every case where buildings are situate on the land at the time when it is to be disposed of by way of lease, then, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, the following special provisions shall apply:—

In any case where settlement land is suitable for a homestead-site for neighbouring pastoral Crown land the following special provisions shall apply, anything in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding:—

In any case where land when acquired under this Act contains a homestead, the owner from whom the land was acquired may select the homestead and the land surrounding it out of the land acquired, and may obtain a renewable lease thereof, but so that the land so selected shall not exceed in all four hundred acres of first-class land or one thousand acres of mixed classes of first-, second-, and third-class land ascertained and computed in the manner provided by section two hereof: Provided—

The lease shall contain such conditions as to insurance, maintenance, and repair of buildings and otherwise as, with the approval of the Minister, the Land Board prescribes.

The Land Board is hereby empowered to deal with the application and to issue the renewable lease without previously notifying the land as open for application, anything in the Land Act or this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

In any case where land when acquired contains a homestead in the bona fide occupation of a tenant, then, subject to the prior rights created by the last preceding section, such tenant may, in the manner and subject to the conditions prescribed by that section, obtain a renewable lease of the homestead and land surrounding it, not exceeding in all four hundred acres, and the provisions of that section shall, with the necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

Every applicant who obtains a lease of rural settlement land shall reside thereon continuously.

The provisions of the Land Act, 1924, as to the payment of “thirds” or “fourths” to local authorities, and the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-nine of that Act as to lands to be reserved from sale or other disposition, shall not apply with respect to settlement land.

Every lessee of settlement land shall be deemed to be an occupier of Crown lands under the Land Act within the meaning of all Acts relating to the payment of rates or taxes.

Except on the recommendation of the Land Board and with the approval of the Minister, it shall not be lawful for any lessee to transfer, assign, sublet, or in any way part with, mortgage, or charge his lease or any portion of his interest therein until the expiration of the fifth year of the term of the lease:

Provided that any lease may at any time be surrendered on such conditions as the Land Board recommends and the Minister approves. Such conditions may provide that the value of the improvements made by the lessee shall be paid to such lessee by the incoming lessee, the value of such improvements being previously ascertained and determined by the Land Board, whose decision shall be final.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to apply to the mortgage of any land as security for an advance under the State Advances Act, 1913, or the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act, 1915.

Subject to the provisions of this Act and the regulations thereunder, all the provisions of the Land Act (including the provisions as to penalties and forfeitures) relating to lessees of Crown lands shall, in so far as they are applicable, and with the necessary modifications, apply to and may be enforced in favour of or against lessees of settlement land.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, it shall be lawful for the Minister, out of any lands acquired under this Act, to reserve from time to time such blocks as he thinks fit, and to use the same for the purposes of State or experimental farms, under such conditions as, subject to regulations, he thinks fit.

So long as any block is so reserved there shall be payable in respect thereof the same rent and other payments in all respects as if the block had been disposed of by lease to private persons.

All such rent and other payments shall be paid out of moneys appropriated by Parliament from the Consolidated Fund, and shall be credited to the Land for Settlements Account.

The Governor-General may from time to time, as he thinks fit, set aside reserves for any specified public purpose out of land acquired under this Act; but no land acquired under this Act shall be set aside for endowments.

When any land is set aside as a reserve under this section a sum equal to the capital value thereof shall be paid into the Land for Settlements Account out of moneys appropriated by Parliament from the Consolidated Fund or other appropriate fund or account, and thereupon the land shall cease to be subject to this Act.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, settlement land may be disposed of by way of sale in fee-simple in the cases and subject to the conditions following, that is to say:—

The provisions of section eighty-five hereof (as to limitation of area) shall not apply to any area disposed of under this section.

Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Governor-General may grant on lease any settlement land as a site for a public hall or for recreation purposes.

The Governor-General may from time to time exchange any settlement land for any other land, and may on such exchange pay or receive any sum by way of equality of exchange, and the land acquired by such exchange shall be deemed to be settlement land.

All sums so paid shall be paid out of the Land for Settlements Account, and all sums so received shall be paid into that account.

The provisions of section three hundred and fifty-three of the Land Act, 1924 (relating to flax leases), shall extend and apply to settlement land.

For the purpose of utilizing and developing settlement land and preparing it for settlement the following special provisions shall apply:—

The powers conferred on the Minister by the last preceding section shall be deemed to include the power to construct, or to join with any person or local authority or with the Crown in constructing, roads, bridges, drainage-works, and river protection works, and such other works upon or in respect of land acquired under this Act as the Minister thinks expedient in order to facilitate the proper settlement of the land or to protect it from injury from floods, river encroachment, or otherwise, or to agree with any local authority for the construction by such local authority of any such works upon such terms and conditions as the Minister thinks fit, and the provisions of that section shall extend and apply accordingly.

The powers conferred on the Minister by paragraph (c) of section seventy-six hereof shall, subject to regulations, be deemed to include power to do any of the following things in respect of land containing deposits of coal, lime, or valuable stone, that is to say:—

In addition to the powers conferred on the Minister by section seventy-six hereof or otherwise, it shall be lawful for the Minister to expend out of the Land for Settlements Account all sums which he deems necessary for the improvement, roading, drainage, or otherwise for the benefit or protection of any land leased under this Act; but no moneys shall be so expended under this section except such amount as is from time to time appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of this section.

Notwithstanding anything in the Land for Settlements Consolidation Act, 1900, or in any former Land for Settlements Act, or in the regulations issued thereunder relating to the renewal of leases of small grazing-runs of settlement land, the Minister may, on the recommendation of the Land Board, determine that the land comprised in any such lease shall, on the expiry of the lease, be disposed of in two or more allotments by way of lease as hereinafter provided, and the said land shall be so disposed of accordingly.

Forthwith upon such determination the land comprised in the said run shall be subdivided into two or more allotments, and a valuation in the manner prescribed by section two hundred and thirty-four of the Land Act, 1924, shall be made of the substantial improvements of a permanent character made and then in existence on the said land, and the value of such improvements shall be apportioned among the several allotments in such manner as the appraiser making the valuation thinks fit.

Upon the expiration of the lease of the small grazing-run the lessee shall be entitled to receive a lease of such one of the allotments into which the said run has been subdivided as he elects, and in disposing of the other allotments preference shall be given to applications by sons of the lessee over twenty-one years of age who have resided on the run for not less than seven years of the ten years immediately preceding the expiry of the lease.

On the expiration of the original lease the lessee shall be entitled to receive the value of the improvements, together with the value (if any) of the right of renewal which he would have had if this section had not been enacted, with respect to the allotments of which he has not been granted a new lease.

The value of the right of renewal provided for by the last preceding subsection shall be determined by arbitration in the manner prescribed by section eighty-six of the Land Act, 1924.

In the event of the lessee not agreeing to the valuation of the improvements or to the apportionment of that value among the several allotments, the value or the apportionment thereof, or both the value and apportionment, as the case may be, shall be determined by arbitration in the manner aforesaid.

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, if the improvements on the said land have become for any reason appreciated or depreciated in value between the date of valuation and the expiration of the lease of the small grazing-run, the amount of such appreciation or depreciation shall be assessed in manner provided by section two hundred and three of the Land Act, 1924, and shall be added to or deducted from the value as so determined.

Every lease under this section shall be for a term of twenty-one years, with perpetual right of renewal from time to time for a further term of twenty-one years, exercisable in the same manner as in the case of renewable leases under Part III of the Land Act, 1924, and all the provisions of that Act relating to the renewal of renewable leases shall, so far as applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply to leases under this section.

The rent to be reserved by every such lease shall be fixed in the same manner as in the case of a renewable lease under this Act.

The provisions of this Act relating to the improvements to be made by the holder of a renewable lease and to his residence on the land shall extend and apply to the holders of leases under this section.

Where the lease is held by the executors, administrators, or trustees of a deceased owner in trust for the persons beneficially interested, the right of election to receive a lease of one allotment conferred by subsection three hereof may be exercised by such executors, administrators, or trustees on behalf of any son or sons of such deceased owner.

Any determination by the Minister made under the last preceding section, or under section twenty-two of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1914, that the land comprised in the lease of a small grazing-run of settlement land shall be subdivided may be revoked by the Minister at any time before such determination has been given effect to by the disposal of a subdivision to any person other than the original lessee.

Where any determination as aforesaid is revoked before the expiry, of the original lease, a new lease shall be offered to the existing lessee in the same manner so far as practicable and on the same conditions as if no such determination had been made, save that where at the date of the revocation aforesaid the time prescribed for the making of an offer of a new lease has expired such offer shall be made as soon as practicable thereafter, and the lessee may exercise his right of election to accept a new lease within such time as may be fixed in that behalf by the Board with the approval of the Minister.

Where any determination as aforesaid is revoked after the expiry of the original lease, a new lease shall be offered to the original lessee so soon as practicable after the revocation, and the original lessee may exercise his right of election to accept a new lease within such time as may be fixed in that behalf by the Board with the approval of the Minister.

Where the original lessee has continued in possession of the land comprised in an expired lease and accepts the offer of a new lease under this section, the new lease shall be deemed to have commenced on the expiry of the term of the original lease, and in any other case shall commence on a date to be fixed in that behalf by the Board, save that in the case of a lessee who has continued in possession as aforesaid the rent paid or payable pursuant to any license to occupy or pursuant to the expired lease for the period elapsing between the expiry of the original lease and the grant of a new lease may be accepted in satisfaction of the rent payable in respect of that period under the new lease.

If the original lessee does not accept the offer of a new lease he shall not be entitled to receive by way of compensation any greater amount than he would have been entitled to receive in respect of improvements in accordance with the terms of his original lease.

In this section, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The owner of a lease in perpetuity of settlement land shall have a right at any time within five years after the commencement of this Act to purchase the fee-simple of the whole of the land comprised in the lease at a price ascertained and determined in the manner provided by the next succeeding subsection.

The price shall be computed as follows:—

The right of purchase hereby conferred shall be exercised by giving notice to the Commissioner.

The delivery of the notice to the Commissioner shall constitute a contract between the lessee and the Crown for the purchase and sale of the said land.

The lessee shall in the notice notify whether he elects to purchase for cash or upon deferred payments.

If the lessee elects to purchase for cash,—

If the lessee elects to purchase upon deferred payments,—

On the completion of a purchase by the lessee in the case of a purchase for cash, or by the licensee in the case of a purchase on deferred payments, the Commissioner shall certify to the Minister that the lessee or licensee is entitled to a Crown grant of the land purchased, and a Crown grant shall in due course be issued to him accordingly.

The fee-simple so granted shall continue to be subject to any right, title, interest, or encumbrance existing or vested in any person other than the lessee or licensee at the time of such completion.

The right conferred by this section shall not be subject to the restrictions as to area imposed by section eighty-five hereof.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make such regulations as he considers necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of this section.

In this section, if not inconsistent with the context,—

Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, the owner of a renewable lease of settlement land may at any time during the currency of the lease acquire the fee-simple of the land comprised in his lease upon the terms and subject to the conditions defined and at a price ascertained and determined in the manner provided by this section.

The price shall be computed as follows:—

Save as provided in the foregoing provisions of this section, the provisions of the last preceding section, relating to the acquisition of the fee-simple of settlement land comprised in leases in perpetuity, shall, so far as applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to the right of purchase conferred by this section.

Notwithstanding anything in this Act as to limitation of area, the owner of a renewable lease of settlement land which together with all other land of any description owned, held, or occupied by him under any tenure, whether in severalty or jointly with any other person, exceeds a total area of three thousand acres calculated in the manner provided by section one hundred and seven of the Land Act, 1924, may acquire the fee-simple of so much of the land comprised in his lease as, together with all other land owned, held, or occupied by him as aforesaid (but exclusive of that part of the land comprised in his lease of which he does not propose to acquire the fee-simple), shall not exceed the said area of three thousand acres.

The lessee shall continue to hold the residue of the land comprised in the lease on the same terms and conditions as those on which he held the land comprised in the original lease, save that the rent payable under the lease shall be proportionately abated.

A plan of the part proposed to be acquired shall be submitted to the Board for its approval, and such approval shall be given only in cases where the Board and the Minister are satisfied that the residue of the land will not be injuriously affected for the purpose of closer settlement.

Such modifications of the method of ascertaining the price as may be necessary in the case of the purchase of the fee-simple of part only of the land comprised in a lease shall be made in manner prescribed by regulations.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, or in section two hundred and forty-five of the Land Act, 1924, it shall not be lawful for any person to become the purchaser in fee-simple of any land which is or was at any time settlement land if such land, together with all other land of any description owned, held, or occupied by him under any tenure, whether in severalty or jointly with any person, exceeds a total area of five thousand acres (where the land proposed to be acquired is or was settlement land comprised in a lease in perpetuity) or in any other case exceeds a total area of three thousand acres, calculated in the manner provided by section one hundred and seven of the Land Act, 1924.

The provisions of sections three hundred and seventy-five to three hundred and eighty of the Land Act, 1924, shall apply to the restrictions contained in this section, the words “this section” being read for the words “this Part of this Act” wherever they occur in the said sections.

Every document of title issued by the District Land Registrar for land affected by this section shall contain a notification that the land is subject to the restrictions contained in this section.

Every restrictive memorandum heretofore endorsed on any certificate of title, and purporting to be in terms of subsection one of section sixty of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, or purporting to be in terms of Part XIII of the Land Act, 1924, or the corresponding Part of the Land Act, 1908, in relation to land that had been settlement land, shall hereafter be conclusively deemed to have been so endorsed in conformity with the provisions of the said enactments.

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to the acquisition by lessees of the fee-simple of settlement land, the present capital value shall, for the purposes of the acquisition of the fee-simple of any land to which section sixty-one of this Act applies, in no case be less than the original capital value or the value determined pursuant to section two hundred and sixteen of the Land Act, 1924, together with the amount outstanding in respect of the purchase by the lessee of any buildings situated on the land comprised in his lease.

For the purposes of this Act all moneys paid by a lessee in respect of the purchase-money of any such building shall be included in the value of improvements effected by the lessee, and shall, for the purpose of ascertaining the present capital value, be deductible accordingly from the capital value of the land as ascertained by the Valuer-General.

If any lessee who is entitled to acquire the fee-simple of the land comprised in his lease pursuant to this Act, and who elects to purchase the said land upon deferred payments, fails to pay the prescribed deposit within the time limited in that behalf, the Land Board may, in its discretion, cancel and determine the contract of purchase, and the lessee shall continue to hold the land under his lease; but in such case the lessee shall not be entitled to give a new notice of intention to purchase until the expiration of three years from the date of the delivery of the original notice in the case of leases in perpetuity, and of five years from such date in all other cases.

In the case of any person entitled to acquire the fee-simple of the land comprised in his lease as aforesaid who elects to purchase upon deferred payments the following provisions shall apply:—

In any case where any settlement land has been disposed of for a homestead-site for neighbouring pastoral Crown land, pursuant to the provisions in that behalf of section sixty-two of this Act, or the corresponding provisions of any former Act, the right (if any) of the lessee or licensee to acquire the fee-simple of such settlement land shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this or any other Act, be subject to the condition that the lessee or licensee has acquired the fee-simple of the neighbouring pastoral Crown land in conjunction with which the settlement land is held as a homestead-site.

In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The Minister may, after consultation with the Dominion Land Purchase Board, agree in writing with an owner to the effect defined in this Part of this Act with respect to any land of such owner, provided that every person entitled under any mortgage or charge registered against the land under the Deeds Registration Act, 1908, or the Land Transfer Act, 1915, shall be a party to and execute such agreement.

Every such agreement shall provide that—

The agreement may contain such other provisions not inconsistent with this Part of this Act as the Minister and owner may agree upon.

The terms and conditions upon which the owner shall offer the land as aforesaid shall be—

The said terms and conditions shall in all other respects be such as may be agreed upon between the owner and the Dominion Land Purchase Board with the approval of the Minister.

No person whose tender for any allotment is accepted shall be permitted to acquire by purchase or lease any other allotment of the same land, and no person whose tender for any allotment is accepted shall sell or transfer his interest in the allotment until at least one-quarter of the purchase-money has been paid by him to the owner.

No tender shall be accepted unless it is accompanied by a declaration as required in the case of an applicant for land under Part III of the Land Act, 1924; but, except as aforesaid, the owner shall not, without the consent of the Minister, decline any tender in which a sum equal to or exceeding the reserve price is offered.

It shall not be lawful for the owner, after the execution of an agreement with the Minister under section ninety hereof, to sell, mortgage, or charge his estate or interest in the land the subject of the agreement, or in any part thereof, without the previous consent in writing of the Minister.

At any time after the execution of the agreement by the owner and by every party whose consent thereto is required by section ninety hereof the Minister may pay the whole costs and charges of the survey of the land and of the laying-out, construction, and completion of such roads, bridges, and improvements as are defined in the plan of the surveyor; and all moneys so expended by the Minister shall be repaid by the owner with interest at such rate, being not less than five per centum per annum, and within such time, as is agreed upon between the Minister and the owner, and until such repayment shall be a first charge upon the land and the proceeds of the sale thereof, and have priority over all other charges and encumbrances, whether registered against the land or not.

All moneys paid by the Minister under the provisions of this Part of this Act shall be paid out of the Land for Settlements Account without further appropriation than this Act, and all moneys repaid by the owner pursuant to the last preceding section shall be paid into that account.

In this section, if not inconsistent with the context,—

Notwithstanding anything in the Native Land Act, 1909, the Native owner or owners of any Native freehold land may, either personally or by agents as hereinafter provided, enter into an agreement with the Minister for the sale or lease of such Native freehold land (or of any part thereof) in the manner prescribed in the preceding provisions of this Part of this Act as if such Native freehold land were European land, and those provisions shall apply in such cases accordingly, save that the provisions of paragraph (e) of subsection two of section ninety hereof shall be read as if the words “or by public auction” were inserted therein after the words “public tender.”

In the case of an agreement for sale by public auction the provisions of sections ninety-one and ninety-two hereof shall be read as if the word “bid” were inserted therein in lieu of the words “tendered” or “tender” wherever those words occur; and in that case, in lieu of the provisions of section ninety-three hereof, it is hereby enacted that every purchaser at public auction shall be required to lodge with the Land Settlement Officer a declaration as required in the case of an applicant for land under Part III of the Land Act, 1924.

The Native owners of any Native freehold land may, by writing, appoint some person or persons (not exceeding three in number) to be the agents of all such owners for the purposes of this section.

Where any such Native owner is a person under disability as defined by section one hundred and seventy-one of the Native Land Act, 1909, the Native Land Court may on behalf of such person, upon the application of the Minister, by order confirm an appointment of agents made by the Native owners who are not persons under disability.

The effect of such order shall be to constitute the agents to be the agents of the person under disability for all the purposes of this section, and the agents shall have the same powers in all respects to enter into an agreement with the Minister on behalf of such person as if such person had not been under any disability; and all conveyances, transfers, leases, and other documents executed by the agents under this section shall be as valid and effectual as if the whole legal and beneficial estate and interest of such person in the land were vested in the agents.

Where the Native owners of any Native freehold land exceed five in number, the appointment of agents for the purposes of this section may, if the Minister so directs, be made in manner following:—

Agents appointed pursuant to this section shall have and may exercise during the term of their appointment, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, all the powers of the owners with respect to the land for the disposition of which they have been appointed agents; and, in particular, may execute in their own names on behalf of the owners, without any further consent or concurrence of the owners of such land, all such conveyances, transfers, leases, and other documents as are necessary for any of the purposes of this Part of this Act and for the disposition of land thereunder.

Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this section, no Native freehold land to which this section relates shall be disposed of by sale or lease except with the concurrence of a Land Settlement Officer, who shall be a party to every sale or lease of any part of such land, and shall join in the execution of every conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document in respect thereof.

Every conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document affecting land executed by the agents and by a Land Settlement Officer shall for all purposes effectually convey, transfer, demise, or otherwise affect the estate or interest in such land, according to the tenor of the instrument so executed.

The proceeds of all sales of land under this section shall be payable only to the Land Settlement Officer, and shall be paid by him into an account to be called the Native Land Trust Account.

Such proceeds shall be applied, first, in repayment of moneys advanced and expended by the Minister and interest thereon as provided by section ninety-five hereof, and next in payment of all other charges and expenses incurred by the Minister and the agents and the Land Settlement Officer in relation to the land, and the balance of the capital proceeds shall be invested in such manner and upon such trusts for all the Native owners of the land and their successors as may be prescribed by regulations:

Provided that where by the agreement between the agents and the Minister it is stipulated that a part, not exceeding one-third of the whole of such balance of the capital proceeds, shall be paid over to the Native owners, such part may be so paid over in lieu of being invested as aforesaid:

Provided further that in every case the prescribed trusts of the moneys invested shall be such as to permit only the payment to the Native owners and their successors of the income of the investments.

The rents of all land demised under this section shall be paid into the said Native Land Trust Account, and shall be paid thereout from time to time to the Native owners and their successors.

There shall be charged and paid out of the said Native Land Trust Account in respect of the management and investment of the capital moneys, and the collection and distribution of the income and rents, such allowances and charges as may be prescribed by regulations.

Every purchaser and lessee of land under this section shall be deemed to be so far the purchaser or lessee of Native freehold land as that all the provisions of Part XII of the Native Land Act, 1909 (relating to limitation of area), shall apply to the acquisition by such purchaser or lessee of the land purchased by or leased to him.

Save as is herein expressly provided, the provisions of the Native Land Act, 1909, shall not prohibit, affect, or apply to any appointment of agents, agreement with the Minister, or alienation (whatever be the number of the Native owners), or to any deed of conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document affecting any Native freehold land under the provisions of this section.

It shall not be necessary that any appointment of agents, agreement with the Minister, alienation, conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document under the provisions of this section be confirmed or be executed as required by the Native Land Act, 1909.

Where an agreement made by Native owners with the Minister under this Part of this Act provides for payment over to the Native owners of a part of the balance of the capital proceeds of the land as provided by subsection twelve of the last preceding section, the Minister, upon the execution of such agreement,—

All moneys so advanced and paid to the owners pursuant to such provisional estimate shall be refunded to the Land for Settlements Account out of the proceeds of sale of the land, with interest thereon at the rate of five per centum per annum.

An appointment of agents by Native owners under section ninety-seven hereof may contain provisions for the remuneration of the agents, and such provisions shall, if approved by the Minister, be part of such appointment and be binding upon the Native owners, anything in the Native Land Act, 1909, or any other Act to the contrary notwithstanding, and the amount of such remuneration shall be deemed to be a charge and expense incurred by the agents within the meaning of subsection twelve of section ninety-seven hereof.

If any agent appointed by Native owners under section ninety-seven hereof dies, or declines to act or becomes incapable of acting, any other agent or agents appointed by the same Native owners to act as agents together with the agent who so dies, or declines to act or becomes incapable of acting, may act alone on behalf of all the Native owners, and shall have the same powers and authorities for all purposes as all the agents originally appointed would have had if all acted together.

Every agreement made by agents appointed by Native owners under section ninety-seven hereof, whether such agreement is with the Minister or with any purchaser or lessee of lands, may be enforced by action or other proceedings in the Supreme Court of New Zealand against the agents in their own names, sued as representing all the Native owners; and if in any such action or proceeding any decree is made for the execution of any conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document, the said Court may direct that such conveyance, transfer, lease, or other document shall be executed either by the agents or by a Land Settlement Officer, and the same shall, when so executed, be as valid and effectual for all purposes as if executed by all the Native owners.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make such regulations as he considers necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of this Part of this Act.

The Minister may at any time, by notice in writing under his hand, notify an owner that the land of such owner, or a part of such land defined in the notice, is required for purposes of settlement.

The right to give such notice shall be subject to the limitations mentioned in section twenty hereof, as if the land to which it relates was to be taken compulsorily under this Act.

Such notice shall be served on the owner of the land, and may also be served on every other person who, so far as is known to the Minister, has any estate or interest therein. After service of the notice on the owner the Minister shall cause such notice to be gazetted.

In any case where the person to be served with a notice under the last preceding subsection is out of New Zealand, or cannot be found in New Zealand, the notice may be served on him by delivering a copy thereof to any attorney or agent in New Zealand of such person, or by posting the same in a registered letter addressed to such person, attorney, or agent at his last known place of business or abode in New Zealand.

After the service of the notice no notice requiring an increase of value of the land, or of any part thereof, upon the subsidiary roll referred to in section thirty-six hereof shall be given by the owner or accepted by the Valuer-General.

Within six months after the gazetting of the notice the owner shall notify the Minister, in writing, of the owner’s election either—

If the owner elects as set forth in paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection the following provisions shall apply:—

If the owner elects as set forth in paragraph (b) of subsection six hereof, he shall enter into an agreement with the Minister within six months after such election.

If the owner—

then in any of such cases the land may at any time within five years after the gazetting of the notice referred to in subsection one hereof be taken compulsorily under this Act without a recommendation by the Dominion Land Purchase Board, and the price to be paid shall be determined as if the land had been so taken at the date of the gazetting of the said notice.

If the owner elects as set forth in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) respectively of subsection six hereof, then in either of such cases the Minister may agree with the owner that there may be excepted from the lands required to be sold, and be retained by the owner, a defined part of the lands described in the notice gazetted.

In the case of land vested in trustees without power of sale the following special provisions shall apply, anything in the instrument containing the trust or in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding:—

This section does not apply to lands held in trust for persons of the Native race.

In any case where any area of Crown land not acquired under this Act is adjacent to any land acquired under this Act, and can conveniently be disposed of therewith, the Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Dominion Land Purchase Board, and after considering the report of the Land Board, may, by notice in the Gazette, declare such area to be subject to this Act, and thereupon it shall be deemed to be portion of the land acquired as aforesaid, and may be disposed of accordingly.

With respect to such area the proviso to subsection two of section sixteen hereof shall, with the necessary modifications, apply.

In any case where, on the report of the Surveyor-General, it appears that unformed and unused roads intersect or are adjacent to any land acquired under this Act, and are not suitable to the subdivision of the land, the Governor-General, by notification in the Gazette, may close such roads and declare the lands comprised therein to be subject to this Act, and thereupon such lands shall be deemed to be portion of the land acquired as aforesaid, and may be disposed of accordingly:

Provided that no road adjacent to any land acquired under this Act shall be closed under this section without the prior consent in writing of the owners of all lands having a frontage to that road.

Any allotment of land held under the Land Settlement Finance Act, 1909, may, with the consent of the holder, be acquired by the Governor-General under the provisions of this Act.

Any land acquired under this section may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing provisions of this Act, be disposed of by way of renewable lease, without competition, to the person from whom it was so acquired.

In every case where the land so acquired is subject to a mortgage to a land-settlement association there shall be deducted from the purchase-money and paid to the Public Trustee as agent of the association a sum sufficient to provide for the payment of—

The amount to be so deducted shall be agreed on between the vendor, the association, and the Dominion Land Purchase Board as one of the terms of the purchase.

The Governor-General may from time to time make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

Such regulations may be made applicable only to one or more settlements, or to one or more sections of a settlement, specified in such regulations.

Within twenty days after the close of each financial year, if Parliament is in session, or if not, then within twenty days after the commencement of the next ensuing session, the Minister shall cause to be prepared and laid before both Houses of Parliament—

The enactments mentioned in the Schedule hereto are hereby repealed, and with respect to those enactments (but without affecting any specific savings elsewhere contained in this Act) the following provisions shall apply:—

All land acquired under any former Land for Settlements Act shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to have been acquired under this Act, and shall be subject to this Act accordingly.

The reference in section two hundred and twelve of the Land Act, 1924, to section fifty-nine of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, shall, after the commencement of this Act, be construed as a reference to section eighty-three of this Act, and the references in section two hundred and forty-five of the Land Act, 1924, to section sixty of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, shall, after that date, be construed as references to section eighty-five of this Act.

All debentures, scrip, inscribed stock, or other securities created or issued under the powers in that behalf contained in any former Land for Settlements Act and outstanding on the coming into operation of this Act shall, in so far as relates to the security and protection of the holder thereof, be deemed to have been created or issued under the corresponding powers in this Act, and the provisions of the New Zealand Loans Act, 1908, shall apply thereto accordingly.