In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

Where any work done or material used on or for the benefit of vested land by the Crown or by any statutory public body has been paid for by way of direct contribution from the owner or the lessee of the land, the increase in the value of the land shall not exceed the amount of the direct contribution aforesaid, and the onus of proving the amount of the contribution shall be upon the owner or the lessee, as the case may require.

All land which immediately prior to the commencement of this Act was vested in the Maori Trustee subject to the provisions of Part 14 or Part 15 of the Maori Land Act 1931 shall, at the commencement of this Act, become vested land subject to the provisions of this Act.

On the commencement of this Act, all vested land shall cease to be subject to any trusts theretofore applying to the land, and the land shall be administered and dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

All vested land shall be held by the Māori Trustee in trust for the owners beneficially entitled thereto, in accordance with their respective interests.

The equitable owner of a freehold interest in vested land shall have power to deal with the interest in any of the following ways:

For the purposes of subsection (1) the term equitable owner shall, in relation to any beneficial freehold interest in reserved land, mean the person who is recorded as the owner thereof in the records of the Maori Land Court and of the Māori Trustee and shall include an administrator, assignee, or trustee who is so recorded.

Except as provided in this section, the equitable owner of a beneficial freehold interest in reserved land shall have no power to deal with his interest.

An assignment by way of security of the equitable and beneficial freehold interest in vested land of any person may be effected by the registration in the Maori Land Court of a memorial of assignment in the prescribed form, executed by the owner of the interest as assignor.

On production of any such memorial and payment of the prescribed fee, the Registrar of the Maori Land Court shall register the same by making a note thereof in the court’s records of equitable ownership of the vested land concerned.

The assignment of any interest as aforesaid shall vest in the assignee the right to receive during the currency of the assignment any money payable by the Māori Trustee in respect of that interest.

On written application by the assignee, and on payment of the prescribed fee, the Registrar shall cancel the entry in the court’s records relating to any such assignment.

On application by the assignor, and on being satisfied that the obligation secured by the assignment has been duly met, the court shall direct the Registrar to cancel the entry relating to the assignment.

On application by the assignee, the court may by order vest in the assignee absolutely the assigned interest or such part of it as in the court’s opinion is sufficient to discharge the obligation of the assignor to the assignee. Before making any order under this subsection, the court shall be satisfied as follows:

The court may, with or without conditions, waive any requirement under subsection (6) for the service of any notice upon the assignor or his representative if it is satisfied that his whereabouts are unknown.

All subsisting leases conferring on the lessee the right to compensation for improvements shall be read and construed subject to the provisions of this Act.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, every subsisting lease which confers on the lessee a right to compensation for improvements shall be deemed to confer on him a right to compensation for all improvements effected by the lessee:

Nothing in this Part relating to any subsisting lease shall—

Subject to any express provision in that behalf contained therein, any subsisting lease which purports to be a renewal of a lease granted under the Maori Lands Administration Act 1900 shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, confer on the lessee the same rights to compensation for improvements as were conferred upon the lessee by the lease purporting to be renewed.

Nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to limit or affect the right of the Māori Trustee to make any arrangement or agreement with any lessee holding under a subsisting lease for the settlement or discharge of the lessee’s rights otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the terms of the lease, but no lessee shall, in the absence of any such arrangement or agreement, have in respect of his lease any enforceable rights as against the Māori Trustee or the beneficial owners of the land affected by his lease other than those conferred on him by this Act.

Where any subsisting lease is subject to a mortgage, no arrangement or agreement for the settlement or discharge of the lessee’s rights shall be made under this section without the consent of the mortgagee.

Nothing in this Act shall prejudicially affect any negotiations in progress at the commencement thereof for the sale and purchase of any vested land, and any such negotiations may be continued and completed as if this Act had not been passed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, any lessee holding under any subsisting lease which contains a provision conferring on him a right to compensation for improvements may, if his lease expires at any time before 1 April 1955 give notice in writing to the Maori Trustee at any time before 1 March 1955 to the effect that he elects to have his rights determined in accordance with the terms of his lease.

Any lessee holding under any such subsisting lease which expires after 31 March 1955 may give notice in writing to the Maori Trustee to the like effect at any time within 3 months prior to the date of the expiration of his lease:

The Maori Trustee may, within the time prescribed in subsection (1) or subsection (2), as the case may require, give notice in writing to the lessee holding under any such subsisting lease that he requires the rights of the lessee to be determined in accordance with the terms of his lease.

Within 2 months after the date of the receipt by the Maori Trustee of any notice given to him by the lessee under subsection (1) or subsection (2), or within 2 months after the date of the receipt by the lessee of any notice given by the Maori Trustee under subsection (3), the Maori Trustee or the lessee shall, by notice in writing to the lessee or to the Maori Trustee, as the case may require, indicate whether or not he is agreeable to a determination of the lessee’s rights in accordance with the terms of the lease. If the Maori Trustee or the lessee, as the case may require, fails to give notice in accordance with the provisions of this subsection within the time limited in that behalf, he shall be deemed to have agreed to a determination of the lessee’s rights in accordance with the terms of his lease.

If, in accordance with the provisions of this section, the Maori Trustee and the lessee agree to a determination of the lessee’s rights in accordance with his lease, the lessee’s right to compensation shall be deemed to be extinguished unless within 6 months after the date of the expiration of his lease, or within such extended period, not exceeding 6 months, as the Maori Land Court may allow, the lessee has applied to the Maori Land Court for an order charging the amount of any unpaid compensation on the land and for the appointment of a receiver for the purpose of enforcing the charge.

The Maori Land Court shall have jurisdiction to make a charging order and to appoint a receiver under subsection (5) of this section, and the provisions of section 33 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 shall apply to any receiver so appointed.

Where, pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, the Maori Trustee and the lessee agree to a determination of the lessee’s rights in accordance with his lease, any appointment of a valuer, arbitrator, or umpire theretofore made, or any valuation or arbitration theretofore completed or undertaken, or any order made by the Maori Land Court creating a charge on the land for the value of improvements or appointing a receiver, shall, notwithstanding that the lease may have been extended by statute or otherwise, and notwithstanding that the appointment, valuation, arbitration, or order was made before the commencement of this Act, subsist for the purpose for which it was made unless the Maori Trustee and the lessee otherwise agree. Where the Maori Trustee and the lessee otherwise agree, the appointment, valuation, arbitration, or order, as the case may require, shall become null and void, and the Maori Land Court, on application made to it in that behalf, may cancel any order made by it in the premises.

Before giving any notice to any lessee under subsection (3) or before making, under section 8, any arrangement or agreement with any lessee for the settlement or discharge of the lessee’s rights otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Maori Trustee shall, so far as is practicable, ascertain the wishes of the beneficial owners of the land affected by the lease and shall act in accordance with those wishes.

Where any subsisting lease is subject to a mortgage, no agreement for the determination of the lessee’s rights in accordance with the terms of his lease shall be made under this section without the consent of the mortgagee.

Where in respect of any subsisting lease any dispute arises between the lessee and the Māori Trustee as to the existence in the lessee of any right to compensation for improvements, or as to the extent of any such right, or as to the nature and kind of improvements in respect of which the lessee has any such right, the lessee or the Māori Trustee may refer the dispute to the Land Valuation Tribunal for determination, and that Tribunal shall have exclusive jurisdiction, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to determine the dispute accordingly.

The Valuer-General, on the application of the Māori Trustee made as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act, shall cause to be made, as at the date of the expiry of the lease, a special valuation, in accordance with this Part, of the vested land comprised in any subsisting lease which expires before 1 April 1955 and which confers on the lessee a right to compensation for improvements.

The Valuer-General, on the application of the Māori Trustee made not earlier than 6 months or later than 3 months before the date of the expiry of the lease, shall cause to be made, as at the date of the expiry of the lease, a special valuation, in accordance with this Part, of the vested land comprised in any subsisting lease which expires on or after 1 April 1955 and which confers on the lessee a right to compensation for improvements.

Any application to the Valuer-General under this section shall set forth the name of the lessee, the area of the land comprised in the lease, a description of the land comprised in the lease, a description of any improvements in respect of which the lessee is not entitled to compensation under this Act, and the date of the expiry of the lease.

On the completion of a special valuation under section 11, the Valuer-General shall cause to be prepared a certificate setting forth the following particulars:

Every certificate prepared by the Valuer-General in accordance with the provisions of this section shall show on its face that it has been made for the purpose of this section.

In determining the capital value or the unimproved value of any land for the purposes of a special valuation under this Part, the Valuer-General shall proceed as if the land were not subject to any lease, or to the right of any person to obtain a lease thereof, but otherwise, and subject to the provisions of this Act, the Valuer-General shall proceed as if he were determining the values under the Valuation of Land Act 1951.

In respect of any such special valuation, the sum of the amount of the unimproved value and the amount of the value of improvements shall always be equal to the amount of the capital value, and, in ascertaining the unimproved value or the value of improvements, the Valuer-General shall always relate those values to the capital value.

The fee fixed by the Valuer-General for making any special valuation as aforesaid shall be paid by the Māori Trustee, but half the amount of the fee shall be recoverable by the Māori Trustee from the lessee as a debt.

As soon as practicable after making any special valuation under section 11, and upon the payment by the Māori Trustee of the fee for making the valuation, the Valuer-General shall serve not less than 3 copies of the certificate prepared under section 12 on the Māori Trustee.

The Māori Trustee shall thereupon file a copy of the certificate in the appropriate office of the District Court and shall serve a copy thereof on the lessee, together with a notice that objections to the valuation to which the certificate relates may be lodged in the manner and within the time specified in the notice.

In every notice given by the Māori Trustee under subsection (2) the Māori Trustee shall fix the time within which objections to the valuation may be made, being in each case a period not less than 2 months after the date of the notice, and shall specify the office of the District Court in which objections shall be filed.

If the lessee or the Māori Trustee objects to any of the values as appearing in the certificate he may, within the time specified in that behalf in the notice given by the Māori Trustee, file an objection to the valuation in the appropriate office of the District Court.

Every objection filed as aforesaid shall specify the several items to which the objection relates, and, with respect to each item, shall specify the grounds of the objection.

On the filing of any such objection by the lessee, the Registrar of the court shall forthwith give to the Māori Trustee and to the Valuer-General notice of the filing of the objection and of the terms thereof, and, where the objection is filed by or on behalf of the Māori Trustee, the Registrar shall give a like notice to the lessee and to the Valuer-General.

For the purposes of this section, the expression appropriate office of the District Court has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Land Valuation Proceedings Act 1948.

This section applies on and after 1 July 1998 to any case where—

and sections 11 to 14, and any lease to which this Act applies, are to be read accordingly with any necessary modifications and as if the references to the Valuer-General were references to a registered valuer.

In the case of any special valuation under this Act to which this section applies, the valuation is to be made not by the Valuer-General but by a registered valuer chosen in accordance with the following provisions:

If no objection is made to the special valuation within the period fixed by the Māori Trustee as aforesaid, or, if any objection is made, when all objections have been finally disposed of, the Māori Trustee shall serve a notice on the lessee either—

The Māori Trustee may at any time give notice to the lessee that he does not intend to require the lessee to deliver possession of the land in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (1). Any notice under this subsection shall be binding on the Māori Trustee according to its tenor, but any such notice shall not be deemed to be a notice under paragraph (b) of the said subsection (1).

Until the date fixed by the Māori Trustee for the delivery of possession of the land by the lessee, or until the date of the commencement of a new lease, the lessee to whom any notice is given in accordance with the provisions of section 15 may, notwithstanding that his lease has expired, continue in occupation of the land so long as he shall pay the rent reserved by the lease and perform and observe the covenants and conditions contained or implied in the expired lease; and while the lessee continues to occupy the land he shall, notwithstanding that his lease has expired, continue to be the lessee of the land for the purposes of this Act.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), no lessee of land comprised in a subsisting lease shall remain in occupation of the land after the expiry of his lease, notwithstanding any provision of his lease conferring on him a right to hold over.

Where the Māori Trustee has required the lessee to deliver possession of the land in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 15, the Māori Trustee shall, if the lessee has paid the rent up to the due date, on the delivery of possession, and subject to the provisions of section 18, pay to the lessee or to the person entitled to receive the amount an amount equivalent to the full value of the improvements effected by the lessee and shown in the certificate of valuation under section 12.

Where, after the expiry of a subsisting lease and before delivery of possession of the land, any of the improvements for which the lessee is entitled to compensation have been destroyed or appreciably damaged or depreciated, or any other improvements on the land have been destroyed or appreciably damaged or depreciated, the value of the improvements so destroyed, or, as the case may be, the cost of repairing and restoring any improvements so damaged or depreciated, shall be determined by agreement between the Māori Trustee and the lessee, or, in default of agreement, by the Land Valuation Tribunal, and the amount so determined, together with the amount of any costs, charges, or expenses incurred by the Māori Trustee in or about that determination, shall be deducted from the amount payable as aforesaid to the lessee or other person entitled to receive payment.

The provisions of this section shall apply with respect to any subsisting lease the term whereof has been extended by virtue of the provisions of section 13 of the Maori Purposes Act 1948, or of section 8 of the Maori Purposes Act 1950, or of section 9 of the Maori Purposes Act 1951, or of section 6 of the Maori Purposes Act 1952, or of section 29 of the Maori Purposes Act 1953.

Where the rent payable at the commencement of the term of any lease to which this section applies was reduced under the National Expenditure Adjustment Act 1932 or the Mortgagors and Lessees Rehabilitation Act 1936, the Māori Trustee shall impose a condition that, in electing to take a new lease, the lessee shall be required to pay to the Māori Trustee an amount equal to the difference between the rent reserved at the commencement of the lease and the reduced rent, calculated from the date upon which, but for the statutory provisions mentioned in subsection (1), the term of the lease would have originally expired, or from 31 December 1950, whichever is the later date, to 30 June 1954.

The date for the commencement of any new lease granted to the lessee holding under any lease to which this section applies shall be 1 July 1954.

Any such new lease granted as aforesaid may be registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952, notwithstanding that the land comprised in the new lease was subject to a prior lease and, for the purposes of registration, the prior lease shall be deemed to have been surrendered on 30 June 1954.

The term of Lease Number 22716, Wellington Registry, affecting that portion of the Ohotu Number 8 Block containing 1 967 acres, more or less, and known as Sections 3, 4, and 5, Block IX, Karioi Survey District, shall, notwithstanding that the lease has expired, be deemed to have been extended by the provisions referred to in subsection (1), and the lease aforesaid shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a subsisting lease.

In requiring a lessee to make the election referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 15, the Māori Trustee shall impose a condition that, where the lessee elects to take a new lease, he shall pay to the Māori Trustee an amount equivalent to the value, as shown by the certificate of valuation under section 12, of any improvements other than the improvements effected by the lessee.

Every new lease shall be for a term of 21 years, and every such lease shall contain a provision that if the Māori Trustee does not, at least 1 year before the expiry of the lease, give notice to the lessee that the Māori Trustee intends to resume possession of the land, the lessee shall have the right to a renewal of the lease for successive terms of 21 years, subject to the right of the Māori Trustee to resume possession of the land at the end of the 15th year of each successive term of 21 years or at the end of each such successive term, after giving to the lessee not less than 1 year’s notice of the Māori Trustee’s intention so to resume possession and on payment to the lessee of the amount of the compensation to which he is then entitled in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

For the purposes of this Act, the expression minimum annual rent means a rent equal to double the amount of the rent reserved at the commencement of the term of a subsisting lease, or, where the rent reserved as aforesaid was equal to or in excess of the rent reserved at the commencement of the term of the lease of which the subsisting lease is, or purports to be, a renewal, the expression minimum annual rent means the rent reserved at the commencement of the term of the subsisting lease.

For the purposes of this section, the expression rent reserved at the commencement of the term means the rent reserved in relation to the land as if no improvements existed thereon; and does not include any portion of the rent reserved in respect of improvements.

Where for the purposes of this Act it is necessary to ascertain the minimum annual rent of any land which is part only of the land comprised in a lease, the Māori Trustee shall apportion the minimum annual rent for the whole of the land as between the appropriate part thereof and the remainder in such manner as he thinks equitable; and the minimum annual rent so apportioned in respect of any part shall, for the purposes of this Act, be the minimum annual rent for that part. Every such apportionment by the Māori Trustee shall be final and conclusive.

Where, pursuant to the provisions of section 50, the Land Valuation Tribunal has fixed the amount to represent the deterioration in the quality of the land through causes which were not reasonably within the control of the lessee or any former lessee, the annual rent payable under the new lease shall be the minimum annual rent, ascertained in accordance with section 22, reduced by an amount equal to 5% of the amount fixed by the Land Valuation Tribunal to represent the deterioration in the quality of the land.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the annual rent payable under any new lease shall be:

The annual rent payable under any lease which is a renewal of a new lease shall be:

Upon the making of any special valuation for the purposes of section 24, a registered valuer shall cause to be prepared a certificate of valuation and the provisions of sections 12 to 14A shall, as far as they are applicable, and with the necessary modifications, extend and apply to any such valuation accordingly.

Any objection to any such valuation shall be heard and determined in manner hereinafter provided.

Where the lessee has elected to take a new lease, in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 15, and the annual rent calculated at the rate of 5% of the unimproved value of the land, as determined by the special valuation, is less than the minimum annual rent, the lessee, in giving notice of his election to the Māori Trustee, may require the Māori Trustee to reduce the rent to an amount being not less than the amount of the rent calculated as aforesaid or to an amount being four-fifths of the minimum annual rent, whichever amount is the greater, on the ground that the quality of the land has deteriorated through causes which were not reasonably within the control of the lessee or of any former lessee; and if the Māori Trustee refuses so to reduce the rent, he shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, refer the question to the Land Valuation Tribunal for determination in accordance with the provisions of section 50.

If within the period in which he has been required to elect to take a new lease the lessee has not required the Māori Trustee to reduce the rent as aforesaid, the lessee shall be deemed to have elected to take a new lease at the minimum annual rent.

Every new lease and every renewal thereof shall contain a provision to the effect that, due notice of his intention to resume possession of the land having been given by the Māori Trustee in accordance with the provisions of section 21, the lessee shall be entitled, on delivering possession of the land, and not being in any way in default under the terms of his lease, to receive compensation for all improvements effected by him to the extent of two-thirds of the value of those improvements according to a special valuation to be made in that behalf by a registered valuer as at the date of the expiry of the lease or of the expiry of the 15th year of the term of the lease, as the case may require.

The provisions of section 18 shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply to any improvements for which the lessee is entitled to compensation and any other improvements on the land which, before possession of the land has been delivered, have been destroyed or appreciably damaged or depreciated.

Every valuation made for the purposes of section 27 shall be made as nearly as may be in accordance with the provisions of section 11 and all the provisions of that section and of sections 12 to 14A shall, as far as they are applicable, and with the necessary modifications, extend and apply to any such valuation accordingly.

Every new lease may, in the discretion of the Māori Trustee, contain a provision reserving to him all rights in respect of timber or timber trees being or growing on the land, and rights of access over the land comprised in the lease for the purpose of extracting timber or timber trees, whether being or growing on the land comprised in the lease or otherwise.

Nothing in any new lease reserving rights in respect of timber or timber trees shall apply to any timber trees planted by the lessee or by any former lessee or to any timber derived from timber trees so planted.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, or of any new lease, the Māori Trustee may, in any case where, by reason of the reservation to him of rights in respect of timber or timber trees, the lessee’s use and enjoyment of an area of 50 acres or more is unduly restricted or interfered with, make such reduction in the rent reserved by the lease, and for such period, as to him appears appropriate in the circumstances.

Every new lease in which any rights in respect of timber or timber trees are reserved to the Māori Trustee shall contain a provision to the effect that any rights in relation to the extraction of the timber by the Māori Trustee or his agents or licensees shall be exercised in a reasonable manner and so as to cause the least interference with the lessee’s use of the land; and the lease shall further provide that, in the event of the lessee suffering damage as the result of any neglect on the part of the Māori Trustee or his agents or licensees to observe the aforesaid provision, the lessee shall be entitled to compensation, the amount of which, in default of agreement, shall be determined by arbitration.

Notwithstanding that in any new lease or renewal thereof the Māori Trustee may have reserved all rights in respect of timber or timber trees, it shall be lawful for a lessee to use, for any purpose in relation to fencing, any timber from trees which have been severed from the land; but, unless the lease contains an express provision authorising him in that behalf, a lessee who severs timber trees from the land, whether for purposes related to fencing or not, shall be liable to the Māori Trustee for damages in respect of the timber trees severed by the lessee.

Nothing in this section, or in any reservation contained in any new lease, shall be so construed as to prevent the Māori Trustee from disposing of any timber or timber trees to the lessee upon such terms as may be agreed on between the Māori Trustee and the lessee.

Every new lease, and every renewal thereof, shall contain a provision to the effect that where the lessee desires to assign his lease, whether in whole or in part, he shall first offer to surrender the lease, in whole or in part, to the Māori Trustee for a consideration to be agreed on between the lessee and the Māori Trustee, and, failing agreement within 2 months from the date of the offer to surrender being made to the Māori Trustee as to the amount of the consideration, the lessee shall be at liberty to make any assignment which is otherwise permitted by his lease.

Nothing in any provision in any lease under subsection (1) shall apply to any assignment as between spouses, or between civil union partners or de facto partners, or to any assignment to any child, brother, or sister of the lessee, or to any assignment by operation of law or to any disposition by will.

Every new lease shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule 1:

Every new lease shall be deemed to be subject to all existing encumbrances, liens, and interests (if any) registered against any prior lease of the vested land concerned to the lessee to whom a new lease is granted and, notwithstanding anything contained in the Land Transfer Act 1952, the District Land Registrar shall register against the new lease all such encumbrances, liens, and interests accordingly in the order of their registered priority.

Nothing in the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952 shall apply to the grant of a new lease otherwise than under the provisions of section 32 or section 33 of this Act.

Where the lessee elects not to accept a new lease or fails to execute a memorandum of lease within 1 month after the memorandum is tendered to him for the purpose, the right to a new lease of the land shall, as soon as practicable, be submitted to public competition by public tender, subject to the following terms and conditions:

Where the lessee holding under a new lease, or under a renewal of a new lease, elects not to take a renewal of his lease or a further renewal thereof, the Māori Trustee shall require a registered valuer to make a special valuation of all improvements on the land for which the lessee is entitled to compensation, and shall submit the right to a new lease of the land for public competition by public tender, subject to the terms and conditions prescribed by subsection (1); and the provisions of that subsection and of sections 33 and 34 shall, with the necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

In respect of any valuation made for the purposes of subsection (2) there shall subsist a right of objection and the provisions of section 14 shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply to any such valuation.

If the right to a new lease is not purchased under section 32, or if the purchaser, not being the outgoing lessee, fails to pay to the Māori Trustee within the time limited in that behalf the amount of the value of improvements, or if the purchaser fails to execute the memorandum of lease within 1 month after the memorandum is tendered to him for the purpose, the Māori Trustee may at any time thereafter, and from time to time as often as he thinks it necessary so to do, or until a tender has been accepted, submit to public competition by public tender a right to a new lease of the land at such rent, and subject to the payment of such sum for the value of improvements as the Māori Trustee may determine, but otherwise on the terms and conditions prescribed in section 32.

Where a right to a new lease has been submitted to public competition by public tender under this section, and the amount received by the Māori Trustee as the value of the improvements is less than the amount of compensation to which the outgoing lessee is entitled, the lessee shall accept the amount received by the Māori Trustee, subject to any deduction made in accordance with the provisions of section 32, in full satisfaction of the compensation due to him.

In offering for public competition the right to a new lease, the Māori Trustee may impose a condition that the right to take possession under the new lease shall commence on 1 January or July in the appropriate year.

Every proceeding in the Land Valuation Tribunal under section 10 shall be commenced by notice of motion lodged at the appropriate office of the District Court (as defined in section 2 of the Land Valuation Proceedings Act 1948).

Every such notice of motion shall be accompanied by a statement of the material facts, specifying those relied upon by the party giving the notice of motion and setting forth the nature of the declaration sought from the Land Valuation Tribunal, and accompanied by all relevant documents or copies thereof. The statement and documents shall be verified by declaration by the party by or on whose behalf they are lodged or by some other persons competent to do so.

A duplicate of the notice of motion and of the statement required by section 35 shall be served upon the Māori Trustee where the lessee is the applicant and upon the lessee where the Māori Trustee is the applicant.

The party upon whom notice of motion is served shall, within 2 months from the date upon which the notice was served on him, lodge with the District Court in which the notice of motion was filed a statement in answer to the statement accompanying the notice of motion, admitting or denying the matters therein alleged and adducing such other additional facts as are relied upon by him, and shall serve a copy thereof upon the applicant.

Every such statement filed in answer shall be verified in manner prescribed by subsection (2) of section 35.

No party to any proceedings aforesaid shall, except with the leave of the Land Valuation Tribunal, bring evidence as to any matter not alleged in the statement filed in the Land Valuation Tribunal by him or on his behalf.

All such proceedings shall be heard and determined by the Land Valuation Tribunal.

Any proceeding brought under section 18 or section 32 for a determination in relation to the value of any improvements appreciably damaged or destroyed, or the cost of repairing or restoring any such improvements, shall be heard and determined by the Land Valuation Tribunal, and no appeal shall lie to the Valuation Court from the decision of the Tribunal.

Any such proceeding shall be commenced by the filing of a notice of motion by the Māori Trustee accompanied by a statement setting forth the nature and extent of the improvements which have been damaged or destroyed, the value of those improvements as fixed by the Māori Trustee or the lessee, as the case may be, or the cost of repairing or restoring the same as fixed by the Māori Trustee and the lessee respectively, and such other particulars as may appear to be relevant to the issue. Any such statement shall be verified in the manner prescribed, in relation to statements, by subsection (2) of section 35.

All objections to valuations made pursuant to any of the provisions of this Act shall be heard and determined in the Land Valuation Tribunal.

In hearing and determining any objection, the Land Valuation Tribunal to whom the objections are referred shall proceed as nearly as may be as if it were hearing and determining an objection to a valuation under the Valuation of Land Act 1951.

If on the hearing of any objection, the Land Valuation Tribunal makes any alteration in the valuation, it shall make all such consequential alterations as are necessary for the purpose of fixing the capital and unimproved values and the value of improvements.

The Registrar of the District Court in which the proceedings were filed shall notify the registered valuer who conducted the valuation, the Māori Trustee, and the lessee of every decision of the Land Valuation Tribunal. In any case where any alteration has been made in any valuation by the Tribunal, the Registrar shall require the Māori Trustee and the lessee, after the time for appeal as provided in section 44 has expired, to deliver up for amendment the copies of any certificate of valuation held by them and shall amend the copies so that they shall accord with the decision of the Tribunal.

Within 2 months after the date of the receipt of the notice given under section 43, the Māori Trustee, or the lessee, may appeal to the Valuation Court from any determination of the Land Valuation Tribunal.

Every such appeal shall be by way of rehearing.

Every appeal to the Valuation Court shall be brought by notice of motion filed in the office of the District Court in which the proceedings are filed, and setting out the grounds upon which the appeal is based.

Where the appeal is from part only of the Tribunal’s determination, the notice of motion shall specify the part of the decision appealed against.

A copy of the notice of motion shall be served by the lessee on the Māori Trustee where the lessee is the appellant, and by the Māori Trustee on the lessee where the Māori Trustee is the appellant; and, in either case, a duplicate of the notice of motion shall be served on the registered valuer who conducted the valuation.

It shall not be necessary for the Māori Trustee in the case where the lessee appeals, or for the lessee in the case where the Māori Trustee appeals, to give notice by way of cross appeal; but if the party not appealing intends upon the hearing of the appeal to contend that the determination of the Land Valuation Tribunal should be varied, that party shall give to the other party notice of his intention so to contend.

The omission to give any such notice within a reasonable time shall not diminish the powers of the Valuation Court, but may, at the discretion of the court, be a ground for the adjournment of the appeal or for a special order as to costs.

Upon the filing of a notice of motion on appeal under this Act, the Chairman of the Land Valuation Tribunal whose determination is appealed from shall, unless a written decision embodying reasons for that decision is given by the Tribunal, forthwith prepare for the Valuation Court a report setting out the reasons for the Tribunal’s determination.

A copy of any report so prepared shall be transmitted by the Registrar of the Valuation Court to the Māori Trustee and to the lessee of the land affected, and to the registered valuer who conducted the valuation.

On the hearing of any appeal under this Act, the Valuation Court may confirm the determination appealed against or may make such alterations in the valuation as it thinks proper.

Where the Valuation Court makes any alteration in a valuation, it shall make all such consequential amendments as are necessary for the purpose of fixing the capital and unimproved values and the value of improvements.

The provisions of section 43 shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply to the decision of the Valuation Court, and to the amendment of the copies of the appropriate certificate of valuation held by the Māori Trustee and the lessee.

Any reference of any question to the Valuation Court made under section 26 shall be by way of an application by the Māori Trustee.

Every such application shall be heard and determined by the Land Valuation Tribunal, and the Tribunal shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), fix the amount (if any) which in its opinion represents the deterioration in the quality of the land.

For the purpose of any determination under this section, the Land Valuation Tribunal shall presume that the quality of the land had not deteriorated at the commencement of the subsisting lease in respect thereof, and that the unimproved value as at the date of the commencement of the lease was the value ascertained by capitalising, at the rate of 5%, the rent reserved at the date of the commencement of that subsisting lease, and the Land Valuation Tribunal shall calculate the amount to represent the deterioration in the quality of the land by reference to that date and not any earlier date:

In any proceedings under this section, the onus of proving that the quality of the land has deteriorated through causes not reasonably within the control of the lessee or any former lessee, and the extent of that deterioration, shall be on the lessee.

The Land Valuation Tribunal shall have power to make such order as to costs in respect of any proceedings before it under this Act as it thinks proper, but in no case shall costs be awarded against the Valuer-General.

Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Act, the practice and procedure of the Land Valuation Tribunal in the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred upon it by this Act, shall, as nearly as may be, be the same as in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction, and all the provisions of the Land Valuation Proceedings Act 1948 and of the Rules made thereunder shall apply accordingly.

In any proceedings commenced before 1 July 1998 and taken in the Land Valuation Tribunal in relation to any valuation made by the Valuer-General for the purposes of this Act, the Valuer-General shall have the same right of audience, whether by counsel or otherwise, as any party to the proceedings and shall have the right to call witnesses and to cross-examine witnesses called by the parties.

Any expenses incurred by the Valuer-General in respect of any proceedings under this Act in the Land Valuation Tribunal shall be paid out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, no proceedings in respect of any matter, provision for the hearing and determination of which is made by this Act, shall be brought otherwise than before a Land Valuation Tribunal, but nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the exercise by the Valuation Court in any proceedings under this Act of its power under section 18 of the Land Valuation Proceedings Act 1948 to state a case for the opinion of the Court of Appeal.

The rent payable under any lease granted by the Māori Trustee under this Act shall be payable to the Māori Trustee and not otherwise.

Where any such lease contains any provision for the payment of compensation for improvements, the Māori Trustee, after deducting from the rent all moneys properly deductible, including his commission, shall distribute to the owners for the time being entitled to it, half of the residue of the rent, or such lesser portion as may be fixed by the Māori Trustee after consultation with the owners or their representatives, and shall invest the undistributed portion, together with any money paid to him for improvements in accordance with the provisions of section 20, in the Māori Trustee’s Common Fund, there to accumulate with interest thereon at the rate from time to time determined by the Governor-General in Council pursuant to the provisions of section 26 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953.

The disposition, by operation of law or otherwise, of the interest of the owner of any undivided share in the land in respect of which a fund to provide for the payment to the lessee of compensation for improvements is held by the Māori Trustee under this section shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any instrument of disposition, be and be deemed to be a disposition of his corresponding interest in the fund, and no such owner shall dispose of his interest in the fund otherwise than in accordance with this subsection.

Any compensation payable to the lessee under his lease and the provisions of this Act shall be paid by the Māori Trustee out of the money arising from the investment made in the Māori Trustee’s Common Fund in accordance with section 55.

If the money so arising exceeds the amount payable to the lessee, the Māori Trustee shall pay the surplus to the persons then entitled to the revenues of the land demised.

If the money arising as aforesaid or money otherwise available is insufficient to pay the lessee the amount to which he is entitled, the Māori Trustee may make up the deficiency by an advance out of money in his General Purposes Fund, and the land in respect of which any such advance is made by the Māori Trustee shall be charged with the payment of the amount so advanced, together with interest thereon at a rate fixed by the Māori Trustee, and the provisions of section 49 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953 shall apply thereto accordingly.

For the purposes of paying compensation for improvements in accordance with this Act or any lease granted thereunder, the Māori Trustee may raise such money as he thinks fit upon the security of a mortgage of the land in respect of which the compensation is payable.

The provisions of this Act shall extend and apply to any lease containing provision for the payment of compensation for improvements and which is subsisting at the commencement of this Act in respect of land which was subject to the provisions of Part 14 or Part 15 of the Maori Land Act 1931 or the corresponding provisions of any former Act, but which has been revested in the beneficial owners thereof.

The provisions of this Act shall extend and apply to any lease containing provision for the payment of compensation for improvements which was granted in accordance with the provisions of Part 16 of the Maori Land Act 1931, or the corresponding provisions of any former Act, and which is subsisting at the commencement of this Act.

In respect of any land which is subject to any lease to which section 57 applies, the Māori Trustee shall, at the commencement of this Act, be deemed to be the agent of the owners to do all acts and things authorised by this Act in the same manner as if the land were vested in the Māori Trustee for a legal estate in fee simple, and the owners shall not be competent to revoke the Māori Trustee’s authority in that behalf.

The provisions of this section shall apply in any case where any lessee holds land under 2 or more subsisting leases.

Where the Māori Trustee is satisfied that the lands comprised in any 2 or more leases as aforesaid, being contiguous lands, have been farmed by the lessee as 1 area, and that those lands could not otherwise conveniently be farmed, the Māori Trustee may, for the purposes of this Act, treat those lands as if they were included within 1 lease.

For the purposes of this section lands shall be deemed to be contiguous notwithstanding that they are separated by a road, street, railway, river, or stream.

Where any land which is subject to this Act is not subject to any lease or licence, the Māori Trustee may exercise in respect thereof all the powers conferred upon him by Part 25 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 in the same manner as if he had been appointed to execute an instrument of alienation as the agent of the owners under that Part, and all the provisions of that Part shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply accordingly.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, but subject to subsection (2), the Māori Trustee may, with the precedent consent in writing of a majority in value of the beneficial owners, or of their trustees in the case of owners under disability, or in pursuance of a resolution of the assembled owners under Part 23 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953, sell to any person any vested land, whether or not that land has actually been leased by the Māori Trustee.

Where any vested land is subject to a lease, no sale to a person other than the lessee shall be effected by the Māori Trustee and no resolution passed by the assembled owners under Part 23 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 to sell the land to any person other than the lessee shall be confirmed by the Maori Land Court unless the Māori Trustee or the court, as the case may be, is satisfied that the lessee of the land is unwilling or unable to purchase the land at the same price and on the same terms and conditions as that other person.

The provisions of subsection (2) shall extend and apply to the sale of any vested land which is subject to a lease and which is, pursuant to the provisions of section 70, revested in the person or persons for the time being beneficially entitled thereto.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), any sale by the Māori Trustee under this section may be subject to such terms and conditions as to payment and otherwise as the Māori Trustee shall determine, and may be effected by way of private contract, public auction, or public tender.

Where any such sale is effected in pursuance of a resolution of the assembled owners, all the provisions of Part 23 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 shall with the necessary modifications, apply thereto.

Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to take away or affect the right of the assembled owners under Part 23 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 to pass in respect of any vested land any resolution authorised by that Part.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the Māori Trustee may agree by private contract to lease any vested land not for the time being subject to a lease, or any part thereof, to any person at such rent and upon such terms and conditions as he thinks fit, and may grant any such lease accordingly.

Subject to the terms of any lease affecting the land, the Māori Trustee may grant licences for the removal of timber, timber trees, minerals, or other substances from any vested land.

Every such licence shall be for such period not exceeding, together with any renewal to which the licensee is entitled, a term of 10 years, and may be granted on such conditions and in consideration of such payments by way of royalty or otherwise, as the Māori Trustee thinks fit, and may confer upon the licensee such rights over the land as are in the opinion of the Māori Trustee necessary or expedient for the purpose of the licence.

Any such licence may be granted either by way of public auction or public tender or by way of private contract.

Instead of leasing any vested land, the Māori Trustee may, if and so long as he thinks fit, occupy and manage the whole or any part or parts thereof as a farm and carry on any agricultural, pastoral, or allied business thereon, and, for the purpose, shall have power to do all things necessary for the effective performance of his functions under this section.

All revenue derived from any such farming operations conducted by the Māori Trustee shall, after the payment of all outgoings, be retained by the Māori Trustee as a reserve fund for expenditure in the management of the farm or as a fund for the purpose of paying compensation to lessees holding under leases affecting any other parts of the land; but to the extent that the revenues aforesaid are not, in the opinion of the Māori Trustee, required for those purposes, the Māori Trustee may distribute the revenues to the persons entitled thereto.

All expenses and liabilities incurred by the Māori Trustee in the conduct of any such farming operations shall be a charge upon the revenues received by the Māori Trustee from those operations, and upon all revenues received by the Māori Trustee from the land or from any other vested land which is beneficially owned by the persons in whom the beneficial ownership of the farm is vested.

The Māori Trustee may from time to time expend out of the revenues referred to in subsection (3) such sums as he thinks fit for the purpose of effectually carrying on farming operations in manner aforesaid.

The Māori Trustee may from time to time, for the purpose of any such farming operations, raise such money as he thinks fit on the security of any crops on the farm or on the security of any stock or other chattels owned by the Māori Trustee and held by him on behalf of the beneficial owners of the farm, or on the security of a mortgage of the land vested in him and which is comprised in the farm or of which the farm forms a part.

With the consent of the Board of Maori Affairs, the Māori Trustee may expend out of the General Purposes Fund such money as may be required for the purpose of carrying on any farming operations under this section, and any money so expended by the Māori Trustee, together with interest thereon at a rate fixed by the Māori Trustee, shall be a charge on the land comprised in the farm or the land of which the farm forms a part. The provisions of section 49 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953 shall apply to any such charge.

For the purpose of acquiring land for any road which is required in connection with any vested land, the Māori Trustee may either purchase that land out of the revenues of the land so vested in him or may exchange any part of the land so vested in him for the land so required for a road, with or without the payment of money out of the aforesaid revenues by way of equality of exchange.

Where any lessee makes, or proposes to make, any improvements in respect of which he will be entitled to compensation in terms of his lease, he shall be entitled, on application to the Māori Trustee, to have a record made by the Māori Trustee of the particulars of the nature of those improvements and of the state and condition of the land before the making of the improvements. Every such record shall be made at the cost in all things of the lessee.

Every record made under this section shall be retained by the Māori Trustee, and shall at all times be receivable as sufficient evidence of the facts so recorded in all matters and proceedings concerning the improvements effected by the lessee.

The Māori Trustee may at any time accept a surrender of any lease of vested land, or of any licence granted in respect of any such land, whether for the purpose of granting a substituted lease or licence or not.

The costs of the preparation, execution, stamping, and registration of every lease or licence under this Act shall be borne and paid by the lessee or licensee, as the case may be.

Any notice that may be required to be given to any person for the purposes of this Act may be given by delivering it to him personally or may be given by sending it to him by registered letter addressed to him at his last known place of abode or business in New Zealand. Notice given by registered letter shall be deemed to have been received when in the ordinary course of post it would be delivered.

Where any such notice has been given by the agent of a person required to give that notice, service of any subsequent notice required to be given by the person on whom the original notice was served may be effected by serving the notice in manner aforesaid on that agent.

Service of any notice may be effected in manner aforesaid on the personal representative of any deceased person.

Upon application by the Māori Trustee, or upon application made by or on behalf of the beneficial owners, the Maori Land Court may make 1 or more orders revesting any land vested in the Māori Trustee under this Act in the person or persons for the time being beneficially entitled thereto and in accordance with their relative interests, and upon the making of any such order the land therein included shall cease to be vested in the Māori Trustee, and shall become vested in the persons whose names are set out in the order.

The Maori Land Court may partition the land among the owners for the purpose of giving effect to any such revesting.

The District Land Registrar may register any order made by the Maori Land Court under subsection (1) against the relative title without requiring the production of the outstanding certificate of title, and may cancel the certificate of title for the land as to the whole or a part, as the case may require, and issue a new certificate of title for the estate and to the persons named in the order of the Maori Land Court, subject to any existing valid leases, licences, mortgages, or charges.

If, when any such order is received by the District Land Registrar, the title to the land affected has not already been registered, the order shall be embodied in the provisional register as a folium thereof, and all the provisions of the Land Transfer Act 1952 shall apply accordingly:

Where the land to which any such order relates is affected by any instrument of alienation executed by the Māori Trustee while the land was vested in him, the Maori Land Court may, by that or by any subsequent order, direct that the Māori Trustee shall continue to exercise the powers of the lessor or grantor of any licence, and thereupon the Māori Trustee shall exercise all powers as if he still remained the lessor or grantor under the alienation referred to until such time as the Maori Land Court may by order revoke the direction.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (5), the rights, duties, and obligations of the Māori Trustee under any leases granted by him pursuant to this Act shall, upon the revesting by an order under this section of the land comprised in any such lease, be exercisable by and enforceable against the legal owner or owners for the time being of the land; and all the provisions of the lease and any provisions of this Act incorporated in the lease, either directly or by reference, and relating to the service of notices, the taking of applications, and the like, upon to and by the Māori Trustee shall be read accordingly.

Nothing in this Act or in any lease granted under this Act shall relieve the lessee of any liability in respect of the breach of any of the terms, covenants, and conditions of any subsisting lease, and the Māori Trustee may, notwithstanding the expiry of any such lease, proceed against the lessee who has held under that lease for damages in respect of any breach as aforesaid.

All land which, immediately prior to the commencement of this Act, is subject to the provisions of Part 16 of the Maori Land Act 1931 shall, on the commencement of this Act, cease to be so subject, and the District Land Registrar is hereby authorised and directed to cancel any memorial on any certificate of title to the effect that the land comprised therein is subject to the said Part 16 or the corresponding provisions of any former Act.

The rights, powers, functions, and duties conferred on the Maori Trustee by any lease shall not be affected by reason of the land to which the lease relates ceasing, under the provisions of subsection (1), to be subject to Part 16 of the Maori Land Act 1931.

Nothing in Parts 1 and 2 shall apply to the leases which have been granted in respect of the land containing 504 acres 3 roods and 34 perches, more or less, known as Otiranui No 2 and comprised in certificate of title Volume 434, folio 110, Wellington Registry, and of the land containing 791 acres 3 roods and 34 perches, more or less, known as Otiranui No 3 and comprised in certificate of title Volume 157, folio 208, Wellington Registry.

All leases hitherto granted by any former Maori Land Board in respect of any land which became vested in it under Part 14 or Part 15 of the Maori Land Act 1931, or the corresponding provisions of any former enactment shall, notwithstanding the terms of the lease or the terms of any trust instrument, be deemed for all purposes to have been lawfully and validly granted.

No lessee under any lease to which section 19 applies shall, after the commencement of this Act, and no lessee holding under any other subsisting lease of vested land shall, after the expiry of his lease, cut or remove, or authorise or permit any other person to cut or remove, from the land comprised in the lease any timber or timber trees; and, if any lessee cuts or removes or authorises or permits any timber or timber trees to be cut or removed in contravention of the provisions of this section, the Māori Trustee may exercise in respect of the lease and the lessee the same remedies as he could have exercised if it had been a term of the lease that the lessee should not cut or remove or authorise or permit any timber or timber trees to be cut or removed and that he should be liable, at the suit of the lessor, for damages in respect of the timber or timber trees so cut or removed:

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make all such regulations as may be contemplated by this Act or as may in his opinion be necessary or expedient for giving effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due administration thereof.

Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

The enactments specified in Schedule 2 are hereby repealed.