This Act may be cited as the Maori Education Foundation Act 1961.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

This Act shall be administered by the Department of Education under the control of the Minister.

There shall be a Foundation to be called the Maori Education Foundation.

The Foundation shall consist of the contributors to the Foundation.

The Foundation shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and shall be capable of holding real and personal property and of doing and suffering all that bodies corporate may do and suffer.

The general purpose of the Foundation shall be to promote and encourage the better education of Maoris and to provide financial assistance for that purpose.

During any financial year contributors to the Foundation shall be:

The Board may elect as a life member of the Foundation any person who gives to the funds of the Foundation a donation in one sum of not less than twenty pounds, or who makes a gift to the Foundation of other property of a value of not less than twenty pounds.

The Board shall at all times keep a register in which shall be entered the names and addresses of all contributors and the money or property from time to time contributed by each, together with the dates of those contributions. All entries in the register shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be sufficient evidence of the matters so recorded.

Any contributor who desires to inspect the register may arrange with the Board to make the inspection at a time suitable to the Board and to the contributor.

The Board may from time to time call a general meeting of contributors or of the contributors residing in any particular district in which there are resident one hundred or more contributors for the purpose of reporting on the work and finances of the Foundation or for the purpose of discussing plans and proposals for the furtherance and extension of the work of the Foundation or for any other purpose relating to the affairs of the Foundation.

Notice of the calling of any such general meeting shall be given by an advertisement published in some newspaper circulating in the district where the meeting is to be held and the Board may also give such other notice as it thinks fit in the circumstances.

Every question before any general meeting shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the contributors then present and entitled to vote. Each contributor shall have one vote only but in the event of an equality of votes for and against any proposed resolution the person acting as chairman of the meeting shall also have a casting vote.

No person shall be entitled to vote as a contributor at any meeting of contributors unless he has attained the age of eighteen years.

At any general meeting six contributors shall form a quorum.

There shall be a Board of Trustees of the Foundation to be called the Board of Trustees of the Maori Education Foundation.

The Board shall consist of:

In the absence from any meeting of any member being an officer of any Department of the Public Service, he may authorise any other officer of his Department to attend that meeting in his stead. Any person who attends any meeting of the Board pursuant to this subsection shall for the purposes of that meeting be deemed to be a member of the Board.

Any person appointed to the Board by the Governor-General under subsection (2) of this section shall be appointed for a term of three years but shall be eligible for reappointment.

The powers of the Board shall not be affected by any vacancy in the membership thereof, or in consequence of the subsequent discovery of any error or defect in the appointment of a Trustee, or of the fact that any Trustee is disqualified or has forfeited his seat.

Unless he sooner vacates his office by resignation or death or incapacity, every appointed Trustee who comes into office shall continue in office until his successor is appointed, notwithstanding that the term for which he was appointed may have expired.

A Trustee shall be deemed to have vacated his office by incapacity if—

When the office of any Trustee becomes vacant by death, resignation, or other cause other than the expiry of the term for which he was appointed, the vacancy so created shall as soon as practicable be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was originally made. Every person so appointed shall be appointed for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Board and all meetings of contributors at which he is present.

If the Chairman is absent from any such meeting and the Deputy Chairman is present, the Deputy Chairman shall preside.

If both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are absent from a meeting of the Board, the meeting shall elect some other Trustee present to be chairman of that meeting and the Trustee so elected shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Chairman for the purposes of that meeting.

If both the Chairman and Deputy Chairman are absent from a meeting of contributors, the contributors present and entitled to vote shall elect a chairman for the meeting from amongst the Trustees (if any) present at the meeting and if no Trustee is present then from amongst the contributors present; and the person elected shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Chairman for the purposes of that meeting.

Meetings of the Board shall be held at least once in every year at such times and places as the Board from time to time determines.

The Chairman may at any time call a special meeting of the Board.

It shall be the duty of the Chairman or the Secretary to call a special meeting of the Board at any time when he is requested in writing to do so by any four Trustees.

At any meeting of the Board four Trustees shall form a quorum.

Every question before the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the Trustees present at the meeting:

Provided that in the event of an equality of votes the Chairman shall in addition to his deliberative vote also have a casting vote.

The Board and every committee appointed by the Board shall at all times cause proper minute books to be kept in which shall be entered minutes of the proceedings of the Board or committee, as the case may be, with proper details of the business transacted thereat.

The minutes of each meeting shall be read at the next succeeding meeting and shall be confirmed or amended, as the case may require.

Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any regulation thereunder, the Board shall regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Board may pay to any Trustee, or to any member of a Special Committee, remuneration by way of fees, salary, or allowances and travelling allowances and expenses in accordance with the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly. The Board and all such Committees are hereby declared to be statutory Boards within the meaning of that Act.

The Board may from time to time, by resolution, establish—

Every member of the Executive Committee shall be a Trustee, but no person shall be debarred from membership of any Special Committee by reason only of the fact that he is not a Trustee or a contributor.

The Board may delegate to the Executive Committee or to any Special Committee, or to any Trustee or to any officer of the Board such of its powers as it thinks fit.

Subject to any general or special directions given or conditions attached by the Board, any powers and functions so delegated may be performed and exercised by the Committee or person concerned with the same effect as if those powers and functions had been directly conferred by this Act and not by delegation.

Every Committee or person purporting to act under any delegation under this section shall be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation, in the absence of proof to the contrary.

Every such delegation shall be revocable at will, and no such delegation shall prevent the performance or exercise of any function or power by the Board.

Until any such delegation is revoked, it shall continue in force according to its tenor, notwithstanding any change in the membership of the Board or of any Committee.

The common seal of the Foundation shall not be affixed to any document except pursuant to a resolution of the Board or for the purposes of giving effect to any power delegated by the Board, and the execution of any document so sealed shall be attested by two Trustees, and by the Secretary or by some officer authorised by the Board in that behalf.

Any contract which, if made between private persons, must be by deed shall, if made by the Foundation, be in writing under the common seal of the Foundation.

Any contract which, if made between private persons, must be in writing signed by the parties to be charged there with shall, if made by the Foundation, be either under the common seal of the Foundation or signed on behalf of the Foundation by some Trustee or officer of the Foundation duly authorised in that behalf.

Any contract which, if made between private persons, may be made orally may be similarly made by or on behalf of the Foundation by any person acting under its authority, express or implied.

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, no contract made by or on behalf of the Foundation shall be invalid by reason only that it was not made in manner provided in the foregoing provisions of this section, if it was made pursuant to a resolution of the Board or to give effect to a resolution of the Board.

There shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Act 1912 all such officers and servants of the Board as may be necessary for the efficient exercise and performance of the powers and functions of the Board, including a secretary and a treasurer.

The Board may appoint such persons as it thinks fit for the purpose of collecting voluntary contributions and donations from the public for the purposes of the Foundation. No person shall be deemed to be subject to the Public Service Act 1912 by reason of his appointment under this subsection.

The Board may accept on behalf of the Foundation by way of bequest, devise, or gift any money, land, or other property in trust for the purposes of the Foundation for the time being or in trust for any particular purpose or purposes for which the Board can lawfully apply the property of the Foundation.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Maori Affairs Act 1953, or in any other Act, any Maori may make to the Foundation a gift of any Maori freehold land or of any interest therein, including an equitable interest, or may otherwise dispose of any such land or interest to the Foundation.

The provisions of section 213 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to any such gift or other disposition.

Notwithstanding that any money, land, or other property is accepted by the Board for any particular purpose or purposes of the Foundation, the Board may hold that money or property for the general purposes of the Foundation but shall, as far as practicable, apply part of the income otherwise available to it for the particular purpose or purposes for which the money or property was accepted.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall, in respect of any land or other property vested in the Foundation, have authority to do all such things as it considers necessary for the due administration thereof on behalf of the Foundation.

Without limiting the generality of the authority conferred on the Board by subsection (1) of this section, any land vested in the Foundation may be occupied by the Board as a farm and the Board may carry out any such farming operations thereon as it thinks fit.

The Board may, with the consent of the Public Trustee and subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon with him, appoint the Public Trustee to be its agent for the purpose of administering, on behalf of the Foundation, any money, or any land which immediately before it became vested in the Foundation was European land or Crown land, or any other property, and the Board may authorise the Public Trustee to exercise in respect of any such property all or any of the powers, authorities, and discretions that the Board itself may exercise in respect of property vested in the Foundation.

The provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to the Maori Trustee in respect of any land which, immediately before it became vested in the Foundation, was Maori freehold land.

The Board, with the consent of the Minister, may sell or exchange any land or interest in land vested in the Foundation other than land held in trust for any particular purpose, and may pay or receive on behalf of the Foundation any money by way of equality of exchange.

The powers of selling or exchanging land which are conferred upon the Board by this section shall, with the consent of the Minister, extend to land held in trust for any particular purpose, notwithstanding the terms of that trust; but the proceeds of any such sale, and the land or money obtained by any such exchange, shall be subject to the same or similar trusts, so far as may be, as the land so disposed of, and the Board shall where necessary execute a declaration of trust to record the terms of the trust following any such sale or exchange.

Notwithstanding the terms of any trust affecting any such land, the Board may lease any land vested in the Foundation on such terms and conditions as the Board thinks fit and whether by way of public auction, public tender, or private contract.

There shall, without further appropriation than this section, be paid out of the Consolidated Fund to the Foundation the sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds.

There may from time to time be paid to the Foundation, out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose—

Any payment or grant made under subsection (1) or paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section may, with the approval of the Minister of Finance, be made by the issue of Government securities of the appropriate amount to the Foundation. Where any Government securities are so issued, the Board shall not sell or otherwise dispose of them without the consent of the Minister of Finance.

Any local authority within the meaning of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, or other public body, any public corporation, any company or other incorporated body, any unincorporated body of persons, the incorporated owners of any land incorporated under Part XXII of the Maori Affairs Act 1953, or any other person may, unless expressly prohibited by any Act or instrument of trust affecting it, him, or them, make to the Foundation donations or gifts of money, and the Board may accept any such donations or gifts.

The capital of the Foundation shall consist of:

The income of the Foundation shall consist of:

Any money held by or on behalf of the Foundation, whether as capital or unexpended income, may, at the discretion of the Board, from time to time be invested in any securities in which trust funds may be invested by trustees in accordance with the Trustee Act 1956 or in accordance with any other statutory authority.

Notwithstanding any rule of law or equity to the contrary, the Board shall not be obliged to convert any securities which are the subject of a gift to the Board and which are not securities in which the Board may invest money pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.

Any money held by or on behalf of the Foundation, whether as capital or unexpended income, may, with the consent of the Minister, be applied in the purchase of any land or interest in land.

The Board may from time to time, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance, and subject to such conditions as that Minister may approve, borrow money on behalf of and for the purposes of the Foundation and for the development and improvement of any real or personal property vested in the Foundation.

The total amount of borrowing under this section shall not exceed three-fifths of the total value of the land and other capital assets of the Foundation.

The Board may give as security for any money borrowed under this section:

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may apply the income of the Foundation in such manner as the Board thinks fit for all or any of the following purposes:

The Board may apply such part of the capital of the Foundation as consists of money for all or any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (o) of subsection (1) of this section and, subject to the provisions of this Act, may, in addition, convert into money any of that capital which does not consist of money and apply the money resulting from the conversion for those purposes.

The conditions of tenure of every bursary, scholarship, and grant shall be determined by the Board which shall select the recipients thereof, with or without the aid of competitive examinations or tests, and decide the school, university, or other institution at which the bursary, scholarship, or grant shall be held.

Every bursary, scholarship, or grant shall be of such value as the Board in its discretion determines and the Board may in its discretion renew or extend it with or without modification in value or conditions of tenure.

All money belonging to the Foundation amounting to five pounds and upwards shall, within seven days after it has come into the hands of the proper officer of the Foundation, be paid into an account of the Foundation at such bank as the Board from time to time appoints.

No money shall be withdrawn from the bank except by authority of the Board and by cheque signed by the Treasurer or by an officer of the Foundation approved by the Board and countersigned by one of the Trustees who is for the time being authorised by the Board to countersign cheques.

The Board may from time to time authorise the opening of an Imprest Account in the name of an officer of the Board and may direct what payments may be made from any such Imprest Account.

Nothing in this section shall apply to the Public Trustee or the Maori Trustee in respect of money handled by either of them in the course of the transaction of business as the agent of the Foundation.

The Board shall for each financial year make an estimate, in a form approved by the Minister of Finance, of the amount of the expenditure for all purposes and the receipts of the Foundation in that year. The estimate shall show separately the estimated amount of capital expenditure and income expenditure.

The estimate shall be forwarded in duplicate to the Minister on or before the first day of May in the financial year to which it relates.

The Board shall cause books to be provided and kept, and true and regular accounts to be entered therein of the income and expenditure of the Foundation, and of all sums received and paid by the Foundation, and of the several purposes for which those sums were received and paid.

A separate account shall be kept in respect of every trust fund or trust property under the control of the Board.

The said books of account shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of any Trustee.

The Board shall, before the first day of June in every year, cause its accounts for the immediately preceding financial year to be balanced and a true statement of account to be prepared in the form approved by the Controller and Auditor General showing—

A true copy of every such statement of account shall, forthwith after the preparation thereof, be sent by the Board to the Minister and to the Minister of Maori Affairs.

Every such statement of account shall be audited by the Audit Office which for that purpose shall have and may exercise all the powers which it has under the Public Revenues Act 1953, in respect of public money and the audit of local authorities’ accounts.

All land held by or on behalf of the Foundation shall be exempt from land tax.

The income of the Foundation shall be exempt from income tax.

The Board shall, subject to the consent of the Minister, establish such office or offices of the Foundation as may be required for the administration of its affairs.

The place or places of the offices of the Foundation and the times when those offices are open for business shall be notified in the Gazette.

No member of the Board shall be personally liable for any act or default done or made by the Board or by any member thereof in good faith in the course of the operations of the Board.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make all such regulations as he deems to be necessary for the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions of this Act.