Whenua Māori rating
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The Government is proposing amendments to the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 to promote the development of Māori freehold land and to modernise the rating legislation relating to Māori freehold land. The amendments are in the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill.
Background to the Bill
Māori freehold land is approximately 5 per cent (1.4 million hectares) of New Zealand’s land area and is predominantly concentrated in the top half of the North Island.
You can see the Māori land in your district on Māori land online: https://www.maorilandonline.govt
Māori land is mostly held by multiple owners. The average Māori land block is 52 hectares with more than 100 owners.
This Bill is part of a wider set of initiatives designed to support owners to engage, use, develop and live on their land. Other Government initiatives include:
- The Whenua Māori Programme, which was allocated $56.1 million in Budget 2019. This will enable regional on-the-ground advisory services in Te Tai Tokerau, Waiariki and Te Tairāwhiti; the creation of a Whenua Knowledge Hub and website: www.tupu.nz ; new and enhanced services for the Māori Land Court; and the modernisation of the Māori Land Court information systems.
- The Provincial Growth Fund has set aside $100 million to invest in the development of Māori land.
- Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill which is currently before Parliament. This Bill seeks to ensure that the laws governing Māori land work better for whānau by making practical and technical changes to reduce the complexity and compliance requirements that Māori encounter when they engage with the courts about their Māori land.
Current rating law has long been recognised as an impediment to owners engaging with developing Māori land. In particular, the accumulation of rates arrears creates a cycle where a lack of development inhibits the ability of owners to pay rates, and existing rates arrears inhibit owners from engaging with local authorities to promote development of their land.
Current rating law also prevents owners of homes on Māori land accessing rates rebates where there is more than one home on the property, or where there are multiple land uses on the property.
Much of the current rating law for Māori land is largely unchanged from the Maori Land Rating Act 1924. It is no longer consistent with present-day expectations about Māori–Crown relationships.
The Bill provides—
- local authorities with the power to write off rates arrears on any land where they cannot be recovered or, in the case of Māori land, a person has effectively inherited rates arrears from a deceased owner; and
- for Māori land rating units of that are entirely unused and Māori land protected by Ngā Whenua Rāhui kawenata to be non-rateable; and
- a statutory remission process to promote rates remissions for Māori freehold land under development; and
- allowance for multiple rating units of Māori freehold land to be treated as one for the purposes of calculating rates if they are used as one economic unit, which will reduce uniform charges and lower the overall rates charged ; and
- for multiple homes on a rating unit of Māori freehold land to have separate rate accounts if the owner requests, which will enable owners to access rates rebates.
The Bill contains a number of other proposals to modernise the rating legislation applying to Māori freehold land.
Proactive releases
Regulatory Impact Assessment:
- Whānau development through whenua – rating matters (PDF, 911KB)
Cabinet papers:
Cabinet material about Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill (PDF, 1MB)
- 15 October 2019, Cabinet Paper: Whānau Development Through Whenua: Rating Matters, Office of the Minister for Local Government/Māori Development;
- 15 October 2019, MCR-19-MIN-0038: Whānau Development Through Whenua: Rating Matters, Office of the Minister for Local Government/Māori Development;
- 21 October 2019, CAB-19-MIN-0537: Whānau Development Through Whenua: Rating Matters, Office of the Minister for Local Government/Māori Development;
- 18 February 2020, Cabinet Paper: Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill: Approval for Introduction;
- 18 February 2020, LEG-20-MIN-0018: Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill: Approval for Introduction, Office of the Minister for Local Government/Māori Development; and
- 21 February 2020, CAB-20-MIN-0050: Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill: Approval for Introduction, Office of the Minister for Local Government/Māori Development.
Briefings about Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill (Part 1) (PDF, 7.5MB):
- 11 April 2019, Policy Briefing: Options to address the alienation of Māori freehold land made general land by the Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1967, Office of the Minister for Local Government
- 15 May 2019, Policy Briefing: Addressing rating anomaly for urupā, Office of the Minister for Local Government;
- 30 May 2019, Policy Briefing: Writing off rates arrears on Māori land, Office of the Minister for Local Government;
- 30 May 2019, Policy Briefing: Addressing anomalies in the rating exemptions for marae, Office of the Minister for Local Government;
- 30 May 2019, Policy Briefing: Whenua Māori rating: Including purpose statements in rating related legislation, Office of the Minister for Local Government
Briefings about Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill - Part 2 (PDF, 15MB):
- 27 June 2019, Policy Briefing: Options to incentivise the development of small Māori land blocks, Office of the Minister for Local Government;
- 28 June 2019, Briefing: Whenua Māori: Rateability of unused Māori land, Office of the Minister for Local Government;
- 12 July 2019, Briefing: Whenua Māori: Removing rating barriers to housing on Māori land, Office of the Minister for Local Government; and
- 25 July 2019, Briefing: Whenua Māori: Incentivising development through rate remissions, Office of the Minister for Local Government.
