Maori Electoral Option this Year
Between 2 April and 1 August this year, Maori voters will once again have the opportunity to choose whether they wish to be on the Maori electoral roll or the general electoral roll. This option happens every 5 years and, apart from when a voter initially enrols, it is the only time that those who are Maori or of Maori descent can choose between the two types of electoral roll. There's another reason why the option is important: the number of voters on the Maori roll after the Option period will determine whether the number of Maori seats - currently six - will change.
The Electoral Act 1993 requires that the Option be conducted by post over a 4-month period. The Chief Registrar of Electors will send a Maori Electoral Option Form to all identified Maori voters in the first week of April, along with an information brochure. Voters then have until 1 August to decide whether they wish to change roll type or stay on the same roll.
Those who want to change rolls must select the roll type they wish to be on and send the form back to the Electoral Enrolment Centre (EEC) before 1 August. Those who do not want to change don't have to do anything. All those who haven't returned the option form at the end of 4 months are deemed to have chosen to remain on the roll they are currently on.
Te Uri o Hau Deed of Settlement Signed
Te Uri o Hau and the Crown recently signed an agreement that will settle all of Te Uri o Hau's historical treaty claims. Te Uri o Hau is a Northland hapu of Ngati Whatua whose traditional region is in Northern Kaipara. Te Uri o Hau has about 6,000 members. The deed provides "redress for Te Uri o Hau for Crown breaches in the past of its Treaty obligations. These breaches led to significant loss of land and resources for Te Uri o Hau, and subsequent damage to its communities". The benefits of the settlement will be available to all members of Te Uri o Hau wherever they may live.
Details of Package
The Te Uri o Hau Deed of Settlement is made up of a package that includes:
- Crown acknowledgements of breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles (based on an agreed historical account), and a Crown Apology to Te Uri o Hau;
- cultural redress; and
- commercial redress.
Only Crown assets are involved in the redress offered to Te Uri o Hau, except for a .5ha site (the location of Whakahuranga Pa) to be purchased from a private owner on a willing seller/willing buyer basis that will be transferred to Te Uri o Hau.
Cultural redress includes:
- restoring Te Uri o Hau access to traditional foods and food gathering areas;
- recognising Te Uri o Hau's traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual associations with places and sites owned by the Crown (this, for example, means that the Crown has to consult with Te Uri o Hau and listen to their views on places special to them, and a number of places will now have an official Maori name).
Commercial redress is aimed at providing Te Uri o Hau with resources to assist it to develop its economic and social well being, and includes:
- a combination of Crown-owned land selected by Te Uri o Hau and cash up to a value of $15.6 million. Among the properties which Te Uri o Hau have selected are two on which Crown Licensed Forests are located. Te Uri o Hau will also receive the accumulated rentals from these forests; and
- Right of First Refusal - Te Uri o Hau will also have, for 50 years following the passage of the settlement legislation, a right of first refusal to buy, at market value, surplus Crown-owned properties in the Te Uri o Hau Right of First Refusal Area.
To put in place the settlement, legislation will be drawn up and introduced to the House as soon as possible.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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