Waikato-Maniapoto Maori Claims Settlement Act 1946
| Waikato-Maniapoto Maori Claims Settlement Act | |
|---|---|
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| New Zealand Parliament | |
| Status: Repealed |
The Waikato-Maniapoto Maori Claims Settlement Act 1946 was an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand in 1946. The purpose of the act was "to effect a Final Settlement of certain Claims relating to the Confiscation of Maori Lands in the Waikato District, and to provide for the Control and Administration of the Moneys granted as Compensation."
The act sought to redress the improper confiscation of Maori lands in the Waikato district under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 in or about 1864 and 1865. The lands were confiscated on the basis that the owners, or some of them, had rebelled against the Crown. In response to claims that lands had been improperly confiscated or that excessive quantities had been confiscated, a commission of inquiry (the "Sim Commission") was appointed in 1926. The commission's report recommended that the members of the tribes in the Waikato district whose lands had been confiscated should be compensated by an annual payment. The act established the Tainui Maori Trust Fund, which would receive the payments, and the Tainui Maori Trust Board, which would administer the fund for the benefit of the members of the "Tainui tribes" who had owned the confiscated lands in the "Waikato district".