Te 1 o Hune 2017 | 1 June 2017

The Māori Land Service
More than 1000 Māori land owners attended wānanga in 2016 and 2017 and the views shared at these wānanga have shaped the core functions of the Māori Land Service and the proposed design.

Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill confirms that the core services of the proposed Māori Land Service will be: Māori Land Information and Registry Services – maintaining and updating a register of Māori land owner decisions, ownership and governance information; Owner Decision Making Services – service to support owners in relation to their interests and effective governance and management arrangements for their land; Dispute Resolution Services – service to resolve disputes relating to land based on tikanga Māori.

Land owners signalled the need for the fourth service, Advisory and Development Services (advice relating to the productive use of land) to support land owners to effectively utilise their land if they so choose.
“It is important to know that the reforms proposed in Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill will not come into force until 18 months after the Bill is passed in Parliament,” says Chief Executive, Michelle Hippolite

“While this seems like a long way away, there is a huge amount of work ahead of us to establish the proposed Māori Land Service,” says Michelle.

“We were fortunate to have Keith Ikin (Ngāti Maniapoto) on board providing leadership in the early development of the Māori Land Service. He led the wānanga series and the initial design phase that has set the foundations for the proposed Māori Land Service whare,” says Michelle.

This week, Te Puni Kōkiri welcomed Tiaki Hunia (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Aupōuri) to the new role of Director, Māori Land Service, Development and Design.

“Tiaki will lead the next phase of the proposed Māori Land Service in anticipation of the Bill passing later this year. He brings a wealth of experience from his previous role as the Deputy Trustee of Te Tumu Paeroa where he helped lead a large internal change programme including rebuilding their information technology systems, centralising their databases and outreaching to Māori land owners.”

ENDS

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