• Preamble

  (1) The Melanesian Mission Trust Board is incorporated in New Zealand under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957:

  (2) The Trust Board is required by section 4 of the Melanesian Trusts Act 1974 to hold all the property and income of the Trust Board in trust for the Province of Melanesia being the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, the New Hebrides Condominium and New Caledonia:

  (3) The Trust Board has always treated its income and distributions of income as exempt from income tax because of—

  • (a) its charitable status; and

  • (b) its view that its charitable activities do not involve the carrying on of a business:

  (4) There is some uncertainty about the correctness of the Trust Board’s view on the business issue since the decision of the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Dick v Commissioner of Inland Revenue (2002) 20 NZTC 17, 961:

  (5) The object of this Act is to provide, in order to avoid doubt, that from the commencement date of the Melanesian Trusts Act 1974 the following were and are exempt from income tax:

  • (a) income derived by the Melanesian Mission Trust Board (including from any business carried on by, or for, or for the benefit of the Trust Board); and

  • (b) distributions of income by the Melanesian Mission Trust Board:

  (6) This object cannot be achieved without legislation:

The Parliament of New Zealand therefore enacts as follows: