Reserves Act 1977

Classification and management of reserves - General powers of Minister and of administering body

46: Grant of rights to Maori

You could also call this:

"Māori people can get special rights to use some reserves, like taking birds or burying relatives."

The Minister can give Maori people the right to take or kill birds in some scenic reserves. This can only happen if the reserve was Maori land before it became a reserve, and if it does not break the Wildlife Act 1953 or any rules made under that Act. You need to know that the Minister can also give Maori people the right to bury their deceased relatives in certain scenic or historic reserves that include ancestral burial grounds. The Minister can take away or change these rights at any time.

The Minister can grant these rights by giving a notice, which is a type of secondary legislation. You can find out more about what this means by looking at Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. When the Minister gives a notice, it has to be published in a certain way. This is so everyone knows about the notice and what it means.

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This page was last updated on 18 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444694.

Topics:

Māori affairs > Māori landEnvironment and resources > ConservationFamily and relationships > Children and parentingFamily and relationships > Marriage and partnerships

45: Erection of shelters, huts, cabins, and lodges, or

"Building shelters and huts in special outdoor areas"

47: Wilderness areas, or

"Special protected areas in nature reserves where the environment is preserved and human activity is limited"

Part 3Classification and management of reserves
General powers of Minister and of administering body

46Grant of rights to Maori

The Minister may from time to time, by notice, grant to Maori the right to take or kill birds within any scenic reserve which immediately before the reservation or taking thereof was Maori land, provided the taking and killing of the birds would not be in contravention of the Wildlife Act 1953 or any regulations or Proclamation or notification under that Act.
Where any scenic or historic reserve includes any ancestral burial grounds of Maori, the Minister may, by notice, grant the right to bury or inter the remains of deceased Maori in a place to be specified therein.
Any rights so granted may at any time in like manner be withdrawn or varied by the Minister.
A notice under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Compare

1953 No 69 s 60

Notes

Section 46(1): amended, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
Section 46(2): amended, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
Section 46(4): inserted, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).