All the property, both real and personal, which, at the commencement of this Act, is held by the Maori Trustee as assets of the Fund vested in him by section 23 of the Appropriation Act 1925, shall continue to be vested in him, and shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act as assets subject to a trust to be called the Maori Soldiers Trust.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Maori Trustee shall have, in addition to the powers and authorities expressly conferred upon him thereby, power and authority to do all such things as he considers necessary for the due administration of the Trust.

Without limiting the authority conferred on the Maori Trustee by subsection (2), it is hereby declared that he may, with the prior approval of the Trust Committee, borrow money for the general purposes of the Trust upon the security of any property held by him on behalf of the Trust.

The money which, in accordance with section 3, is held by the Maori Trustee for the purposes of the Trust shall be divided among separate accounts within the Maori Trustee’s Common Fund as follows:

All money accruing as a result of the exercise by the Māori Trustee of the powers conferred on him by sections 6 and 7 shall be credited to the General Account.

All money expended by the Māori Trustee in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 6 and 7, or otherwise in respect of the due administration of the Trust, shall be paid out of the General Account.

At the end of each financial year the amount which shall be retained in the General Account shall be determined by the Trust Committee, and the Māori Trustee shall transfer any money not retained in the General Account in accordance with any such determination to the Soldiers Fund Account and the Scholarship Fund Account, in such proportions as the Trust Committee shall determine, or if the Trust Committee so determines, to either of those accounts to the exclusion of the other.

Any interest payable by the Māori Trustee in respect of money held for the purposes of the Trust shall be credited to the account in which the money is held.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the application of money from any account established under this Act in payment of fees and commission charged by the Māori Trustee pursuant to the Maori Trustee Act 1953 in respect of the exercise of his powers and functions under this Act.

In addition to any payments to the Māori Trustee in respect of any such fees and commission, and any payments by way of fees, allowances, and expenses pursuant to section 15, the Māori Trustee shall pay from the Soldiers Fund Account or the Scholarship Fund Account, as the case may require, all money authorised by the Trust Committee to be paid pursuant to sections 9 and 10, and shall make between those accounts any transfers authorised by the Trust Committee pursuant to section 11.

Despite sections 4 and 5, the Trust Committee may, under section 24 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953, direct the Māori Trustee to invest, otherwise than in the Māori Trustee’s Common Fund, money held for the purposes of the Trust.

The care, diligence, and skill that a prudent person of business would exercise in managing the affairs of others must be exercised—

The Maori Trustee may, for the benefit of the Trust, occupy and manage as a farm the whole or any part of the freehold and leasehold interests in land held by him for the purposes of the Trust, and shall have all such powers as may be necessary for or incidental to the effective management of any such farm.

Without limiting the general provisions hereinbefore contained, the Maori Trustee shall have and may exercise, for the purposes of the management or administration of any such farm, the following powers:

The Maori Trustee, upon the recommendation of the Trust Committee and with the consent of the Minister, may acquire for the purposes of the Trust any land or interests in land.

The Maori Trustee may from time to time lease any portions of the land held by him for the purposes of the Trust, which in his opinion are not suitable or necessary for use as a part of any farm managed by him under this Act, and may, upon the recommendation of the Trust Committee and with the consent of the Minister, sell any land, or interests in land, held by him for the purposes of the Trust.

For the purposes of this Act there is hereby established a committee to be called the Maori Soldiers Trust Committee.

The Trust Committee shall consist of—

The members appointed pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection (2) shall, as far as practicable, be Maori veterans or, in the alternative, persons who have at any time served overseas as members of the armed forces of the Crown, and the Minister, in appointing any such members, shall give effect to any nominations made in that behalf by a general meeting of Maori veterans.

Subject to the provisions of this section, every member of the Committee appointed under paragraph (c) of subsection (2) shall be appointed for a term of 2 years but any member retiring from office may from time to time be reappointed.

At the expiration of 3 years after the date of the initial appointment of any such members in office at the commencement of this subsection, 3 of those members, who shall be selected by the Committee by unanimous vote of the Committee or, failing any such vote, by lot, shall retire from office. At the end of the next succeeding year the remaining 3 members shall retire and thereafter the members shall retire at the expiration of 2 years after the date of their appointment.

Any such member may be removed from office by the Minister for inability to perform the functions of the office, bankruptcy, neglect of duty, or misconduct proved to the satisfaction of the Minister, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Minister. In the case of a vacancy in the membership of the Committee, the Minister may appoint some qualified person to fill the vacancy. Any such appointment shall be made in the same manner as the appointment of the vacating member. Every person so appointed shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

For the purpose of advising the Trust Committee with respect to the expenditure of money from the Scholarship Fund, the Trust Committee may invite to any of its meetings the Secretary for Education and the chairman of the University Grants Committee or any person nominated by either of them for the purpose.

The powers of the Trust Committee shall not be affected by any vacancy in the membership thereof.

The Trust Committee shall administer the Soldiers Fund Account for the benefit of Maori veterans and their dependants.

Without limiting the general provisions contained in subsection (1), the Trust Committee may, from time to time, authorise the payment of money from the Soldiers Fund Account for all or any of the following purposes:

For the purposes of this section the term dependants includes the children or grandchildren of Maori veterans.

The Trust Committee shall administer the Scholarship Fund Account for the purpose of promoting the higher education of Maoris and in so doing shall, wherever practicable, give preference to the descendants of Maori veterans.

Without limiting the general provisions hereinbefore contained, the Trust Committee may, from time to time, authorise the payment of money from the Scholarship Fund Account for all or any of the following purposes:

The Trust Committee may prescribe such conditions as it thinks fit in respect of the grant of any scholarship or monetary grant under this section.

The Trust Committee may, from time to time, authorise the transfer from the Soldiers Fund Account to the Scholarship Fund Account, of any money which in its opinion is in excess of that reasonably required for future expenditure under section 9.

The Trust Committee, if there are, in its opinion, insufficient funds available in the Soldiers Fund Account for expenditure under section 9, may, from time to time, authorise the transfer to the Soldiers Fund Account from the Scholarship Fund Account of such sum as it considers necessary.

The Trust Committee may, from time to time, as it thinks fit, appoint district committees to advise and assist it in the exercise of its powers and functions within specified districts or areas.

Each district committee shall include in its membership an officer of the Maori Trust Office nominated by the Maori Trustee, and each officer so nominated shall be the chairman of the district committee to which he is appointed.

In addition to the chairman, a district committee shall consist of such number of members, not exceeding 4, as may be fixed by the Trust Committee, who shall, as far as practicable, be Maori veterans or, in the alternative, persons who have at any time served overseas as members of the armed forces of the Crown.

The Trust Committee may at any time dissolve any district committee or, subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, may change the constitution thereof.

All district committees established under subsection (6) of section 26 of the Maori Purposes Act 1953 and in existence at the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to be district committees appointed under this section.

The Trust Committee may at any time, by resolution, delegate to the Maori Trustee or to any district committee any powers or functions conferred on the Trust Committee by this Act, other than the power of delegation conferred by this section, and the powers conferred by section 11.

In the exercise of any power or function delegated under this section, the delegate shall comply with any directions given by the Trust Committee.

Every resolution delegating any powers or functions under this section shall specify in full the powers or duties delegated and no such delegation shall empower a district committee to authorise the making of any one payment in excess of 50 pounds.

The fact that the Trust Committee has delegated any of its powers or functions shall not prevent the Trust Committee from itself exercising any such powers or functions.

The exercise by any delegate of any power or function delegated under this section shall have the same effect in all respects as if that power or function had been exercised by the Trust Committee.

Any delegation under this section may be at any time varied or revoked, in whole or in part, by the Trust Committee.

Meetings of the Trust Committee or of any district committee shall be held at such times and places as the chairman appoints for the purpose or as any such body by resolution directs.

The chairman shall preside at any such meeting at which he is present. In the absence of the chairman the deputy chairman (if any) shall preside and, in the absence of both the chairman and the deputy chairman, the members present shall appoint one of their number to preside at that meeting.

The Maori Trustee or, in the case of a district committee, the chairman, if he is unable to attend any such meeting, may nominate in writing some person, being an officer of the Maori Trust Office, to attend the meeting in his stead, and any such person shall be deemed a member for the purposes of the meeting.

At all meetings of the Trust Committee 5 members shall form a quorum, and at all meetings of any district committee 3 members shall form a quorum.

At any such meeting all questions shall be decided by a majority of the valid votes recorded thereon.

At any such meeting the person presiding shall have a deliberative vote, and, in the case of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting vote.

A resolution in writing signed, or assented to by letter or telegram, by such number of members of any committee as constitutes a quorum of that committee shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of any such committee duly called and constituted.

Subject to the provisions of this Act each body to which this section applies may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Trust Committee is hereby declared to be a statutory Board within the meaning of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951.

There shall be paid out of the Soldiers Fund Account to the members of the Trust Committee (other than the Minister) and to the members of any district 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.

At the close of each financial year the Maori Trustee shall cause to be prepared for that year a balance sheet showing the assets and liabilities held for the purposes of the Trust with an account of his income and expenditure in connection with the administration of the Trust.

The Trust is a public entity as defined in section 4 of the Public Audit Act 2001 and, in accordance with that Act, the Auditor-General is its auditor.

A copy of each such balance sheet and account, together with a report of the activities of the Trust Committee for the year, shall be made available for public inspection at all offices of the Department of Maori Affairs.

Amendment(s) incorporated in the Act(s).

Without limiting the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924, it is hereby declared that the repeal of any provision by this section shall not affect any document made or any thing whatsoever done under the provisions so repealed or under any corresponding former provisions, and every such document or thing, so far as it is subsisting or in force at the time of the repeal and could have been made or done under this Act, shall continue and have effect as if it had been made or done under the corresponding provision of this Act and as if that provision had been in force when the document was made or the thing was done.