This Act may be cited as the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1925.

In this Act the expression “the principal Act” means the Native Land Act, 1909.

Where moneys have been paid to a Board under section ninety-two of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913, and notwithstanding that the same may have been deposited with the Native Trustee or otherwise invested by the Board, the Native Minister may direct in writing under his hand that the whole or any part of the moneys so paid to a Board shall be paid over to the beneficiaries or any of them, or to any person appointed by any such beneficiary and approved of by the Native Minister, and thereupon the Board shall accordingly pay any amount so directed to be paid out of the funds in the account established by section thirty-five of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913.

The principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred and forty-two or any other provisions of the principal Act, the death of any Native or other person shall not affect the operation of any valid assignment or charge of any moneys arising out of the alienation of Native land or the income thereof made in favour of a State Loan Department or the Arawa Trust Board.

This provision shall be deemed to have had effect as from the coming into operation of the principal Act.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section four hundred and twenty-four of the principal Act, a beneficiary may assign, charge, or dispose of his interest in a trust fund as security for advances made by a State Loan Department or by the Arawa Trust Board, and the trust fund shall remain charged with the payment of any liability as aforesaid notwithstanding the death of the beneficiary to whom such advances were made or of any successor in title to such beneficiary.

Subsection seven of section five of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1924, is hereby amended by adding thereto the following words: “In exercising such jurisdiction the Court may, in its discretion, appoint not less than five nor more than seven persons to be a committee of management, and in such case the provisions of section three hundred and twenty-five of the principal Act as to the election of a committee of management shall not apply.”

The Court may order that any Native land subject to the operation of Part XVI of the principal Act shall cease to be subject thereto, and such order shall take effect according to its tenor.

The powers conferred by this section are in addition to the powers conferred on the Governor-General by section two hundred and ninety-six of the principal Act.

No such order shall be made during the continuance of the term of any lease of that land granted by a Maori Land Board under the said Part XVI (including in that term the term of any renewal to which the lessee is entitled) except with the consent in writing of the Maori Land Board first had and obtained.

When any land ceases by virtue of any such order to be subject to the said Part XVI the District Land Registrar shall enter upon any certificate of title or folium containing a memorial of the Order in Council having the effect of making the land subject to the said Part XVI a memorial that the land has ceased to be subject to the said Part XVI.

If and whenever under any power or jurisdiction granted by the principal Act, or any amendment thereof, the Court shall make an order cancelling, varying, or amending any former order or proceeding, such cancellation, variation, or amendment shall not take away or affect any interest theretofore acquired in good faith and for value.

The Court in the exercise of any such power or jurisdiction shall have power to make all consequential amendments required in any order or proceeding of the Court or the Appellate Court.

If any order or other document affected as aforesaid has been registered by a District Land Registrar, a duplicate of the order under the seal of the Court shall be transmitted to him, and he shall make all necessary consequential amendments in the registration of the title to any land affected thereby.

All rights to which the former owners are entitled by contract or otherwise at the date of cancellation, variation, or amendment shall pass to and enure for the benefit of the persons subsequently found to be entitled.

If and whenever in assessing compensation for any Native land taken under the Public Works Act, 1908, the Court deems it advisable that the whole or any part of such compensation shall be paid to one or more of the persons entitled as owners to the exclusion or partial exclusion of the other owners, it may order payment accordingly as if the interest of such person or persons alone was affected by the taking of the land, and may vary or amend the title of the land in such manner, either in regard to the owners or their interests, as the circumstances may require.

Where an order for payment of compensation has already been made by the Court, it may apply the provisions of this section to such order and amend the order accordingly.

Section fourteen of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, is hereby amended as from the passing of that Act by adding the following subsections:—

Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, the Statute of Limitations shall not run or be deemed to have run against a co-owner of Native land who neglects or has at any time neglected to exercise his right of entering upon and using the common property while it remains in the occupation of another co-owner or some one claiming through or under him.

Whereas by section three of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1924 (hereinafter called the said section), a certain sum of money, representing interest earned upon moneys belonging to Native beneficiaries, was transferred to an account called “The Maori Purposes Fund Account”: And whereas the Control Board set up to administer such fund has decided, inter alia, to apply certain portions of the revenue of the said fund for the purposes of the higher education and advancement of Natives who have proved their aptitude: And whereas this is considered a service worthy of national support and of monetary assistance by the State: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

Without further appropriation than this Act there shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund to the Maori Purposes Fund Account referred to in the said section five annual sums of three thousand pounds each, the first of such payments to be due and payable on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, and succeeding payments on the corresponding day in each of the four immediately succeeding years.

Any moneys so paid as aforesaid shall be administered by the Maori Purposes Fund Control Board constituted by the said section in the same manner and under the same conditions and regulations as other moneys in the Maori Purposes Fund Account are being administered.

Section sixteen of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1923, is hereby amended as from the date of passing thereof as follows:—

The Court is hereby authorized to rehear the application upon which an order of the Appellate Court dated the twenty-second day of December, nineteen hundred and thirteen, appointing successors to Mikaera Urututu (deceased) in respect of his interest in the Opunake 2k No. 1 Block is founded.

The Court may confirm such order, or may cancel, vary, or amend the same, or make such other order as the circumstances of the case may require.

Notwithstanding anything contained in section eighty-seven of the principal Act, the Native customary title of the land situate in the Tokerau Maori Land District and known as Rangiahua or Flat Island shall be deemed not to have been extinguished, and the said land is hereby declared to be Native customary land subject to all the provisions of the principal Act.

Any existing tenancy granted by or on behalf of the Crown shall be deemed to be valid and to entitle the tenant to occupy until the expiration thereof, subject to the payment of the rent thereby reserved.

The Court shall have power by order to permit the removal of any buildings erected by such tenant upon the said land, or in lieu thereof may order that reasonable compensation for such buildings shall be paid by the owners of the land to such tenant, and may grant a charge upon the said land for the amount thereof.

The Arawa Trust Board constituted under section twenty-seven of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1922 (hereinafter called the said Board), shall be the successor in office of the Maori Council for the Te Arawa Maori Council District constituted under the Maori Councils Act, 1900, and upon the coming into operation of this Act such Council shall cease to exist.

All property, contracts, debts, or liabilities of the Te Arawa Maori Council shall by virtue of this Act become the property, contracts, debts, or liabilities of the Board.

In addition to any other powers the said Board may have, and subject as herein mentioned, all powers, rights, duties, and functions of the Te Arawa Maori Council and of a Maori Council under the Maori Councils Act, 1900, shall pass to and may be exercised by the said Board as fully and effectually as if it were the Council constituted under the Maori Councils Act, 1900, for the Te Arawa Maori Council District, and the Maori Councils Act, 1900, shall be read and construed accordingly.

All rates, fines, fees, and other moneys collected by the said Board under the provisions of the Maori Councils Act, 1900, shall as and when received be paid into the bank account of the said Board and be dealt with in accordance with the regulations governing the Board. Any such moneys shall, after payment of the necessary expenses, be applied to or set apart for sanitary works or such other purpose as the Native Minister may from time to time approve.

The provisions of sections eight to fourteen inclusive and sections twenty-six to twenty-eight inclusive of the Maori Councils Act, 1900, shall not apply to the said Board.

No power which the Arawa Trust Board is authorized to exercise under any other Act shall be in any way limited or otherwise affected by any of the provisions of the Maori Councils Act, 1900.

Whereas a certain lease of the Whakapoungakau No. 15b Block granted by certain Natives to Dr. H. Bertram, of Rotorua, was finally confirmed by the Waiariki District Maori Land Board on the 20th December, 1921: And whereas the lands comprised in the said lease were and are Native land which had been subject to the Thermal Springs District Act, 1908, and it is alleged that there was and is situated thereon a mineral spring: And whereas no precedent consent of the Governor-General in Council was granted to such alienation or to such confirmation, as required by section 3 of the Thermal Springs District Act, 1910: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

No alienation of the leasehold interest purported to be conferred by the said lease shall be valid or effectual to pass any estate or interest therein except as may be permitted by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

The Registrar-General shall cause to be registered a caveat against the said leasehold interest notifying the provisions of this section.

The Chief Judge of the Native Land Court is hereby authorized and empowered to inquire into the circumstances and validity of the said lease and the confirmation thereof, and to make such recommendations as he may deem fit to the Governor-General.

The Court is hereby authorized to hear and determine any claim for rectification or adjustment of the boundary-line between the lands situated in the Waiariki Native Land Court District and formerly known as Waione and Haumingi Blocks.

The Court shall determine what in its opinion is the proper boundary-line, and may amend the titles to the said blocks or make such order as the circumstances may require.

The Court in exercising its powers under this Act shall not be bound by any former order, finding, or decision of the Court.

For the purpose of rectifying certain omissions in a Warrant for the issue of a title for the land known as Allotment 63d of the Parish of Matata, as comprised in certificate of title, Volume 251, folio 68, of the Auckland Land Registry, be it enacted as follows:—

The road traversing the said land, known as the Pikowai Road, and containing approximately nine acres three roods, is hereby declared to be and to have been a public road remaining vested in His Majesty, and the same shall be excepted from the said certificate of title accordingly.

Certain portions of land adjoining the land comprised in the said certificate of title originally forming part of the said Allotment No. 63d, which said portions are shown upon the official plans as Reserve No. 1, Reserve No. 2, school-site, and cemetery, and containing an aggregate area of approximately seventy-three acres and thirty-one perches, are hereby vested for an estate of freehold in fee-simple in the persons whose names are set out in the above-mentioned certificate of title as tenants in common in the shares therein set out.

The said land shall hereafter be deemed to be a portion of the said Allotment 63d, the whole of which is hereby declared to be Native land within the meaning of the principal Act. The location and area of the portions so vested shall be defined by the Chief Surveyor at Auckland, whose certificate of such location and area shall be final.

The District Land Registrar is hereby authorized to make all necessary amendments and adjustments in the above-mentioned certificate of title to give effect to the provisions of this section, and may, if he thinks it expedient, cancel such certificate of title and issue a new and corrected one in lieu thereof.

The Court may for the purpose of giving effect to this enactment either grant a partition order or orders of any part of the land hereby vested in favour of such person or persons as it shall deem entitled thereto, or may amend any existing partition order by adding thereto the area of any part of the land so vested either with or without a charge by way of equality in favour of any other of the owners, and generally may make such order or orders for amendment or adjustment as the circumstances of the case shall require.

Notwithstanding the vesting of any land hereunder, any tenancy or right of occupation granted by the Crown to which the land is now subject shall remain in force until the expiration thereof, but in no case longer than twelve months after the passing of this Act.

In order to give effect to a voluntary arrangement entered into upon an inquiry held by the Court into matters arising out of petitions Nos. 366 and 367 of the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one to the House of Representatives, be it enacted as follows:—

The Court is hereby authorized and empowered to amend and readjust the relative interests awarded to the owners of the Mangaroa and Omaio No. 43 Blocks, situate in the Waiariki Native Land Court District, in such manner as will, in the opinion of the Court, best carry out the voluntary arrangement with regard to the readjustment of such shares arrived at between the respective parties before the Court on the twenty-sixth day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-five.

Whereas it is desirable that the Matakana Afforestation Development Company (Limited) should be permitted to acquire all that piece of land., containing 191 acres, more or less, situated in Blocks II and III, Tauranga Survey District, called Section 11a, Parish of Katikati, originally acquired by Te Ropere on the twenty-seventh day of February, nineteen hundred and twelve, and being the whole of the land in certificate of title, Volume 373, folio 141, of the Registry-book at Auckland: And whereas the said company is precluded by law from acquiring such land: Be it therefore enacted that nothing in the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913, shall prevent the acquisition by the Matakana Afforestation Development Company (Limited) of the land above described.

In order to give effect to reports by the Native Land Court with regard to the roads and rights-of-way within the Te Araroa Native Township the Court is hereby authorized and empowered to make inquiries as to what adjustment, amendment, or alteration should be made in the roads and rights-of-way within the said township and adjacent thereto, and to make all necessary orders giving effect thereto accordingly.

The Court may order that the width of any road shall be decreased, and may declare any road or portion of a road to be stopped, or may lay out new roads within such township. Any new road so laid out shall be deemed to be a public road and be vested in His Majesty the King.

The Court may vest any portion of a road so stopped under the foregoing provisions of this section in any person appearing to be entitled thereto, and the area of the various sections of the said township may be amended by the addition of such area of stopped road, and any land so added shall be deemed to be included in any lease of the section affected.

The Court in order to give access to the subdivisions of Whetumatarau 7b Block by the owners thereof may by order grant a right-of-way not exceeding 50 links in width over Section 33 of the said township and known as the recreation reserve.

No compensation shall be payable in respect of any road or right-of-way granted or declared under this section unless the Court in its order shall otherwise determine.

The Court may exercise jurisdiction for any of the purposes of this section notwithstanding that the roads and reserves affected may be vested in His Majesty, and notwithstanding that any land affected may be European land, and all orders shall take effect according to the tenor thereof.

Any land vested in Natives under this section shall be deemed to be Native freehold land.

The Court is hereby authorized to inquire into the circumstances of the allotment of shares made to the representatives of Wi Patene (Rongowhakaata) and Hirini Rongowhakaata respectively upon the investigation of the titles to the undermentioned lands, and shall have power in respect of such titles to readjust and amend the definition of relative interests in any manner it shall adjudge to be fair and reasonable.

Nothing herein contained shall affect the shares or relative interests of any of the other owners of the said lands.

The lands referred to in this section are the Kaiwahie, Waiwhakaata, Taheremaro, and Pipiwhakao No. 3 Blocks, situate in the Tairawhiti Native Land Court District.

Subject to the approval in writing of the Native Minister, the East Coast Commissioner is hereby empowered to convey, transfer, lease, or otherwise alienate, with or without consideration, any part of the lands vested in him as such Commissioner in favour of His Majesty the King as a site for a school. The consent of the beneficiaries or any other persons interested in the said lands shall not be necessary, and the Commissioner may exercise his powers hereunder without observing any of the formalities prescribed by the East Coast Native Trust Lands Act, 1902, or its amendments, or by any other Act, and free from all restrictions whatsoever.

Notwithstanding that the time for appealing from a decision of the Native Land Court given on the eighteenth day of February, nineteen hundred and nineteen, in respect of an application for the investigation of title to the Ngaruroro-Awamate Block has expired, an appeal from such decision may be brought by any person interested within three months after the passing of this Act, and the Appellate Court is hereby authorized to hear and determine such appeal if brought as aforesaid, and all the rules as to lodging security and otherwise shall apply accordingly

With respect to any encumbrance, lien, or interest duly registered against the estate or interest of any person in any land comprised in a reserve under the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892, and held by him under any lease granted under that Act, the following provisions shall apply:—

Whereas in a report printed as a parliamentary paper— G.-6I of nineteen hundred and twenty-four—certain recommendations were made upon petitions to the House of Representatives, Nos. 252 and 295 of nineteen hundred and twenty-two, with regard to Ngatimutunga claims, which recommendations are still under consideration: And whereas it is expedient that some tribunal should inquire and determine who are the persons beneficially entitled to the relief claimed in the said petitions: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

The Court is hereby empowered, on the application of any person claiming to be interested or of the Native Minister, to ascertain and determine who are the persons entitled to participate in any relief that may be granted in respect of the matters referred to in the said petitions and their relative interests, and to make order or orders accordingly. In determining the persons so entitled the Court shall not be bound by the findings of any former Commission or authority, but shall ascertain, in such manner as it thinks fit, what persons or their successors would have been entitled if land had been awarded instead of other relief.

It shall be in the full discretion of the Government to consider what, if any, relief shall be granted.

The trustee of the will of the late Kuini Wi Rangipupu, commonly known as Kuini Wi Thompson), of Normanby, near Hawera, aboriginal Native, deceased, is hereby empowered and authorized to provide and erect a tombstone to the memory of the said deceased and her late husband; the cost of providing and erecting such tombstone not to exceed the sum of fifty pounds and to be paid out of the funds of her estate.

Section 6 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1919, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words: “but no order of exchange shall be made in favour of a person not being a beneficiary in the said reserve or in some portion thereof.”

An appeal shall lie to the Native Appellate Court from the decision of the Native Land Court dated the twelfth day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, in connection with proceedings under section twenty-nine of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1923, for the ascertainment of who are the persons entitled to participate in any relief that may be granted in respect of the matters referred to in the petition No. 454, of nineteen hundred and nine, of Tiemi Hipi and others, concerning the Ngaitahu Block, and to make an order or orders accordingly.

Every such appeal shall be commenced by notice of appeal given in the prescribed manner within two months after the coming into operation of this Act.

The Court is hereby authorized and empowered to ascertain and determine who are the persons entitled to become owners of the land called or known as Section No. 115 of Kaiapoi Reserve No. 873, and to make an order vesting the same in the persons so found entitled for an estate of freehold in fee-simple as tenants in common in such shares as shall be ascertained by the Court.

If the Court for any reason finds itself unable to ascertain who are the persons entitled to become owners of the said land, it may, if it deems it advisable, vest the said land in two or more persons as trustees upon such trusts for such Native purposes as the Court may from time to time by order determine, with power to the Court at any time by order to change the purpose or nature of such trust. Such trust shall be subject to the provisions of section six of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1920.

The Court shall not be bound by any former setting-apart of the land for any particular purpose, and may disregard any such purpose.

The said land shall be deemed to be Native freehold land.

The South Island District Maori Land Board is hereby constituted the irrevocable agent of the owners for the time being of the land referred to in section nineteen of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1923, and known as Te Upoko-o-Rakaitauheke No. 884 Block (in this section referred to as the said land), to sell or otherwise dispose of, either by public auction, public tender, or private contract, the whole or any part of the said land, and from time to time to enter into contracts and to execute in the name of the Board instruments of alienation and all other instruments that the circumstances of the case may require.

Every such instrument of alienation may contain all such terms, conditions, and provisions as are agreed upon by the Board and the other parties to the instrument other than the owners.

Any such instrument of alienation shall, without confirmation under Part XIII of the principal Act, have the same force and effect and may be registered in like manner as if it had been lawfully executed by all the owners or their trustees, and as if those owners or trustees had been fully competent in that behalf. The production of any certificate of title issued in respect of the land affected by the instrument of alienation shall not be necessary for the registration of that instrument.

A contract made by the Board as agent of the owners under this section may be enforced by the Board by action or otherwise in its own name and in the same manner as if the fee-simple of the land was vested in the Board, and no such contract shall be enforceable by the owners personally.

For the purposes of this section the Board may, if it thinks fit, deal with the said land and with the owners thereof as if the land had not been partitioned but was still held in common by the original owners or their successors.

All purchase-money or other sums received by the Board under this section in respect of the above land shall be applied—

The Chief Judge is hereby authorized to refer to the Native Land Court, or to a Judge or Commissioner thereof, for inquiry and report, the claims and allegations made by the petitioners in the petitions mentioned in the Schedule hereto.

The Chief Judge may, upon such inquiry and report, make to the Native Minister such recommendation in any case as appears to accord with the equities of the case.

The report and recommendation under this section shall be laid before Parliament on as early a date as possible, and shall stand referred to the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.