1.    1906 official documents show that there were 53 original grantees (beneficial owners) identified with each adult being issued 50 acres and each minor (14 years of age) 20 acres

2.    The beneficial owners list provided by the Maori Land Court on 17 November 2015 confirms that the total shares are 1,555.038

3.    The beneficial owners list provided by the Maori Land Court on 17 November 2015 shows that there are currently 1,071 individual beneficial owners

4.    25.25% of the original owners/ shareholding (as recorded on the beneficial owners list) have no record of issue/descendants

5.    30% (approx.) of the beneficial owners (as recorded on the beneficial owners list) are deceased with no current succession (antecdotal information provided by Theo Bunker, (owners representative group) based on knowledge of his whanau whakapapa and contact with other beneficial owners)

6.    Top 100 shareholders (including original and deceased owners) makeup 75% of the shareholding

7.    Majority of living individual beneficial owners are kaumatua (65 years of age plus)

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Press Release from Te Puni Kōkiri

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ATTN: Beneficial owners of

Hāwea-Wanaka Substitute Land under the South Island Landless Native Act

 

Te Puni Kōkiri invites descendants of Ngāi Tahu to check the list of beneficial owners of the Hāwea-Wanaka Substitute Land on the Te Puni Kōkiri or Māori Land Court websites.

The Hāwea-Wānaka Substitute Block is a piece of land identified in the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. The original Hāwea-Wānaka Block was not available as settlement redress for Ngāi Tahu in 1998, so a substitute block of land was negotiated.

The Māori Land Court have compiled a list of 1071 people who are to receive shares in the block of Hāwea-Wanaka Substitute Land. Te Puni Kōkiri is in the process of locating beneficiaries in order for an owners meeting to occur.

There are two key decisions to be made at the meeting, including:

• whether the land will be vested as Māori Land or General Land; and

• the manner in which the land will be held and who will look after the land.

This land is to be vested back into descendants of Ngāi Tahu through share allocation. Any person/s vested with shares is encouraged to attend this meeting which will be conducted three months after contact has been made confirming the entitlement of shares.

Please note that some beneficiaries are deceased, live in Australia or cannot be located, so your help on this matter is greatly appreciated. Also, please be advised if you are a descendant of a beneficiary who is now deceased, and you would like to apply for succession, please contact the Māori Land Court in regards to this matter.

If you require further information please visit the Te Puni Kōkiri website http://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/ or alternatively the Māori Land Court http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/maori-land-court.