This Act may be cited as Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Act 1996.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, Ngai Tahu Whanui means the collective of the individuals who descend from the primary hapu of Waitaha, Ngati Mamoe, and Ngai Tahu, namely, Kati Kuri, Kati Irakehu, Kati Huirapa, Ngai Tuahuriri, and Kai Te Ruahikihiki.

This Act binds the Crown and every person (including any body politic or corporate) whose rights are affected by any provision of this Act.

This Act shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Takiwa of Ngai Tahu Whanui is all the area of Te Waipounamu south of the northernmost boundaries described in the decision of the Maori Appellate Court in Re a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal by Henare Rakiihia Tau, 12 November 1990, 4 South Island Appellate Court Minute Book 672 (reproduced in the report of the Waitangi Tribunal on the Ngai Tahu claim, February 1991, Volume 3, page 1122), being all the lands, islands, and coasts of Te Waipounamu south and east of a line commencing in the Marlborough Land District at a point on the coastline of Cloudy Bay at the south-eastern end of Big Lagoon, north-west of White Bluffs, being on the production, in a north-easterly direction, of a right line between survey mark IP2 on SO Plan 5485 (Marlborough Land District) and the Trig station on Belvedere Peak situated in the Nelson Land District; thence proceeding by a right line in a south-westerly direction, passing through the said survey mark IP2 on SO Plan 5485 (Marlborough Land District), to the said Trig station on Belvedere Peak situated in the Nelson Land District, being the source of the Clarence River; thence proceeding generally in a westerly direction along the summit of the ridge of the Spenser Mountains, passing through Waiau Pass, to the peak of Mount Mahanga; thence proceeding generally in a northerly direction along the summit of the ridge of the Mahanga Range to the peak of Mount Misery; thence continuing by a right line in a north-north-westerly direction to the junction of the western bank of the D’Urville River with the shore of Lake Rotoroa; thence proceeding generally in a north-westerly direction following the south-western shore of Lake Rotoroa to the south-east corner of Gowan Bridge, at the confluence of Lake Rotoroa and the Gowan River, being at position 5934547.5 metres north and 2476179.4 metres east (NZMG); thence proceeding by a right line in a north-north-westerly direction to the Trig station on Mount Owen; thence continuing in a north-north-westerly direction by a right line to the Trig station on Mount Patriarch; thence proceeding generally in a north-easterly, northerly and again north-easterly direction along the summit of the ridge of the Arthur Range to the Trig station on Mount Arthur; thence proceeding by a right line in a north-westerly direction to the Trig station on Mount Peel; thence proceeding generally in a north-westerly direction along the summit of the ridge of the Peel Range, passing through the Trig station on Mount Ranolf, to the Trig station on Aorere Peak; thence proceeding by a right line in a north-westerly direction to the Trig station on Mount Gouland; thence continuing in a north-westerly direction by a right line to Trig Station Kahurangi No. 2 at Kahurangi Point and that line produced to a point on the coastline of the Tasman Sea; as is more particularly shown on Survey Office Plan SO 7127, lodged in the office of the Chief Surveyor, Marlborough, and on Survey Office Plan SO 15076, lodged in the office of the Chief Surveyor, Nelson.

For the benefit of, and as the representative of, Ngai Tahu Whanui there is hereby established a body corporate to be known as Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to purchase, accept, hold, transfer and lease property, and to sue and be sued, and having all the rights, powers, and privileges of a natural person.

The members of Ngai Tahu Whanui are the descendants of—

Where any question arises as to whether or not a person is a descendant of any of the persons who are referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1), Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall have authority to determine that question.

Any person who is not a member of Ngai Tahu Whanui by virtue of that person being a descendant of any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and who claims to be a descendant of a member of the Ngai Tahu iwi who was living in the year 1848 may apply to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu to have that member determined to be a member of Ngai Tahu iwi living in the year 1848.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall consider any application made under subsection (3) with all convenient speed and shall notify the applicant of its decision and, if the applicant so requests, of the reasons for its decision.

If Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu rejects an application made under subsection (3), the person making the application may, within 6 months after the date upon which that person is notified of the decision of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, apply to the Maori Land Court to hear and determine the question.

The Maori Land Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the question and any determination made by the Maori Land Court shall be final and conclusive.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall cause to be prepared a roll containing the names and addresses of all adult persons who are members of Ngai Tahu Whanui, and shall, from time to time, make all such additions and corrections to the roll as may be necessary.

The roll shall also show, in respect of each person whose name is on the roll, each Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui in respect of which that person has established his or her entitlement to be a member.

Any member of Ngai Tahu Whanui may, if entitled by descent, belong to more than one Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui.

It shall be the responsibility of each adult person who is a member of Ngai Tahu Whanui to ensure that his or her name is included in the roll and to supply to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu his or her full postal address for the time being.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall include on its initial roll of members of Ngai Tahu Whanui the name and address of every adult beneficiary of the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board whose name and address are, immediately before the commencement of this Act, on the roll of beneficiaries prepared by the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board under section 42 of the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955.

The members of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall be each of the Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui from time to time in operation.

The names and takiwa of the Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui which are in operation at the commencement of this Act are set out in Schedule 1.

The Governor-General may from time to time by Order in Council declare, as at such date as is specified in the Order in Council, the Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui and their respective takiwa.

An Order in Council under subsection (1) may be made only on the recommendation of the Minister of Maori Affairs.

The Minister of Maori Affairs may make a recommendation under subsection (2) only—

An Order in Council made under subsection (1) may revoke any previous Order in Council made under subsection (1).

The first Order in Council made under subsection (1) may provide that it shall supersede Schedule 1.

An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Where a determination on a request made, whether before or after the commencement of this section, under section 30(1)(b) of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 could affect the membership of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu or the takiwa of any member of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the Maori Land Court may make such a determination under section 30(3) of that Act or may give to the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri and the Chief Judge such advice on the request as the Maori Land Court thinks proper.

The Maori Land Court may, in giving advice under section 30(3) of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 (as applied by subsection (1) of this section) advise the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri to submit to the Minister of Maori Affairs a recommendation that an Order in Council be made under section 10(1) of this Act.

There may, in accordance with section 17, be incorporated in the charter of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu provisions that prescribe a procedure by which the members of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu or a person or body specified in those provisions may consider, after appropriate investigations and hearings, whether any changes should be made to the Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui or to their respective takiwa or to both.

The procedure prescribed under subsection (1) shall comply with the rules of natural justice.

Where any provisions of the kind described in subsection (1) are incorporated in the charter or where any such provisions are amended, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu—

The Minister of Maori Affairs shall forthwith publish in the Gazette a notice—

The resolution adopting the provisions and any resolution amending the provisions shall state that the provisions being adopted or amended, as the case may require, have effect in the place of the procedure set out in section 30(1)(b) of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and, subject to subsection (6) of this section, those provisions shall have effect accordingly.

No provisions adopted under subsection (1) and no amendment to any such provisions shall have effect before the date on which the notice relating to those provisions is published in the Gazette under subsection (4).

If at any time provisions of the kind described in subsection (1) are not incorporated in the charter, section 30 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 (as modified by section 11 of this Act) shall have effect according to its tenor.

The publication of a notice under subsection (4) shall not affect any request made under section 30 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 (as modified by section 11 of this Act) before the provisions or the amendment to which the notice relates comes into force.

The person who, or the body which, has jurisdiction under any procedure incorporated in the charter under subsection (1) to consider whether any changes should be made to the papatipu runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui or to their respective takiwa or to both shall not have the power to determine the membership or the takiwa of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu but shall have the power to advise the Minister of Maori Affairs that an Order in Council should be made under section 10(1).

Each member of Ngai Tahu Whanui is entitled to be a member of each Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui to which he or she can establish entitlement by descent.

Where any question arises as to whether or not a member of Ngai Tahu Whanui is entitled, by virtue of his or her descent, to be a member of a particular Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall have authority to determine that question.

Any member of Ngai Tahu Whanui may apply to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu to have that member determined to be a member of a particular Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall consider any application made under subsection (3) with all convenient speed and shall notify the applicant of its decision and, if the applicant so requests, of the reasons for its decision.

If Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu rejects an application made under subsection (3), the person making the application may, within 6 months after the date upon which that person is notified of the decision of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, apply to the Maori Land Court to hear and determine the question.

The Maori Land Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the question and any determination made by the Maori Land Court shall be final and conclusive.

Subject to this Act, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu,—

The Trusts Act 2019 shall not apply in relation to the administration by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu of its assets in accordance with subsection (1).

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall be recognised for all purposes as the representative of Ngai Tahu Whanui.

Where any enactment requires consultation with any iwi or with any iwi authority, that consultation shall, with respect to matters affecting Ngai Tahu Whanui, be held with Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, in carrying out consultation under subsection (2),—

Subject to this Act, the charter of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu at the commencement of this Act shall be the charter adopted, before the commencement of this Act, at a meeting of representatives of the Papatipu Runanga of Ngai Tahu Whanui, at Aparima on 21 August 1993 as the proposed charter of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

The charter—

The charter of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu may be amended from time to time by a special resolution.

For the purposes of this section a special resolution is a resolution of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu that—

Where the notice required by subsection (2)(b) is given less than 28 clear days before the date of the meeting of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the meeting shall nevertheless be deemed to be properly convened if, before the meeting proceeds to business, all the members of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu agree in writing that the meeting is, notwithstanding the shorter period of notice, deemed to be properly convened.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall ensure that copies of the charter of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, and of all amendments to that charter that are for the time being in force, are procurable by purchase at a reasonable price at the head office of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

The first head office of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall be at Te Waipounamu House, 127 Armagh Street, Christchurch.

Whenever the address of the head office of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu is changed, notice of the change of address shall be published in the Gazette by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

Until a new address is published in the Gazette in accordance with subsection (2), service of any document at the address specified in subsection (1) or last notified in the Gazette under subsection (2) shall, as the case may require, be effective for all purposes.

The Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board continued in existence by section 6 of the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 is hereby dissolved.

All property, both real and personal, held by the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board immediately before the commencement of this Act is hereby vested in Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, subject to all liabilities, charges, obligations, trusts, covenants, and conditions, affecting that property.

Notwithstanding subsection (1), nothing in the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 or in provisions repealed by this Act shall apply in relation to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu or in relation to the administration by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu of the property vested in Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu by subsection (1).

Without limiting the generality of section 21, the following provisions shall have effect on and after the day on which this Act comes into force:

Nothing effected or authorised by this Act—

As soon as reasonably practicable after the commencement of this Act, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall cause to be prepared final accounts of the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board as at the close of the date of commencement of this Act.

A copy of the final accounts, together with a copy of the report of the Auditor-General on those accounts, shall be sent by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu to the Minister of Maori Affairs.

A copy of the final accounts, together with a copy of the report of the Auditor-General on those accounts, shall be laid before the House of Representatives by the Minister of Maori Affairs as soon as practicable after their receipt by that Minister.

The society incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 and called Te Runanganui o Tahu Incorporated is hereby dissolved.

All property, both real and personal, held by Te Runanganui o Tahu Incorporated immediately before the commencement of this Act is hereby vested in Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, subject to all liabilities, charges, obligations, trusts, covenants, and conditions affecting that property.

Without limiting the generality of section 26, the following provisions shall have effect on and after the day on which this Act comes into force:

Nothing effected or authorised by this Act—

As soon as reasonably practicable after the commencement of this Act, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall cause to be prepared final accounts of Te Runanganui o Tahu Incorporated as at the close of the date of commencement of this Act.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu shall cause the final accounts prepared under subsection (1) to be audited by a person who, or a firm which, is qualified for appointment as an auditor of a company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1993.

A copy of the final accounts, together with a copy of the report of the auditor on those accounts, shall be sent by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu to the Minister of Maori Affairs and to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.

A copy of the final accounts, together with a copy of the report of the auditor on those accounts, shall be laid before the House of Representatives by the Minister of Maori Affairs as soon as practicable after their receipt by that Minister.

For the purposes of the Inland Revenue Acts (as defined in section 3(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994) and any other enactment that imposes or provides for the collection of any tax, levy, or other charge,—

For the purposes of the Inland Revenue Acts (as defined in section 3(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994) and any other enactment that imposes or provides for the collection of any tax, duty, levy, or other charge,—

Where, within the period of 2 years beginning with the day on which this Act comes into force, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu effects the disposition of any property vested in it by this Act and, immediately after such disposition, that property is owned—

(hereafter in this section referred to as a subsidiary), this section shall apply in respect of that disposition.

Where, within the period of 2 years beginning with the day on which this Act comes into force, a subsidiary, immediately after acquiring property by virtue of a disposition of the kind described in subsection (1), effects the disposition of that property and, immediately after the disposition of that property by that subsidiary, that property is owned by another subsidiary, this section shall apply in respect of the disposition of that property by that subsidiary.

A disposition to which this section applies—

The deductions for depreciation referred to in subsection (3) are such deductions for depreciation, in respect of or in relation to the property, as have been allowed or deducted, or deemed under this Act to have been allowed or deducted, in calculating the assessable income derived, or deemed under this Act to have been derived, by the person effecting the disposition of the property; and the acquirer of the property to which the disposition relates shall be deemed to have been allowed (as if in the calculation of assessable income of that acquirer) deductions for depreciation, in respect of or in relation to the property, equal to those of the person effecting the disposition of the property.

Any document, matter, or thing, which, if this Act had not been passed, would have been admissible in evidence in respect of any matter for or against the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board or Te Runanganui o Tahu Incorporated shall, after the commencement of this Act, be admissible in evidence in respect of the same matter for or against Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

In this section, document has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Evidence Amendment Act (No 2) 1980.

No Registrar of Deeds or District Land Registrar or Registrar of the Maori Land Court or any other person charged with the keeping of any books or registers shall be obliged solely by reason of the provisions of this Act to change the name of the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board or the name of Te Runanganui o Tahu Incorporated to that of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu in those books or registers or in any other document.

The presentation to any Registrar or other person of any instrument, whether or not comprising an instrument of transfer by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu,—

shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be sufficient proof that the property is vested in Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

The enactments specified in Schedule 2 are hereby amended in the manner indicated in that schedule.

Amendment(s) incorporated in the regulations.

Unless the context otherwise requires, every reference in any enactment in force at the commencement of this Act (other than an enactment specified in Schedule 2), or in any regulation, rule, order, agreement, deed, instrument, application, notice, licence, or other document whatsoever in force at the commencement of this Act (other than the regulations specified in subsection (2) or in section 36) to the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board shall, as from the commencement of this Act, be read as a reference to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

Amendment(s) incorporated in the regulations.

The Maori Trust Boards Regulations 1985, Amendment No 2 (SR 1989/81) is hereby revoked.

This Act is hereby declared to be a private Act.