Submission Deadline Extended: Local Government (Rating Of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill

The Māori Affairs Committee has agreed to extend the submission deadline on the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill.

The original deadline was 17 April, and has now been extended by one month until midnight, 17 May.

The committee made this decision after receiving several requests from submitters to extend the deadline. They said that their ability to submit had changed in light of the current circumstances around Covid-19.

The Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill seeks to:

· support the development of Māori land

· support the development of housing on Māori land

· modernise rating legislation affecting Māori land.

The bill would improve a number of issues with the current local government rating system that applies to Māori.