Legislative change

The Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2011 amends the Māori Fisheries Act 2004 to:

• enable the transfer of the status of a Mandated Iwi Organisation (MIO), and all fisheries settlement assets held by that MIO and its subsidiaries to another separate entity within the governance arrangements of the same iwi; and,
• exempt the transfer of assets from the provisions of the Māori Fisheries Act that would otherwise require the fisheries settlement assets that are associated with such a transfer to be offered for sale to other iwi or Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Limited.

The amendments improve the Māori Fisheries Act by giving better effect to the objective of the Act that an iwi retain its fisheries settlement assets. They also better enable iwi to consolidate and manage their assets under the most efficient and cost effective governance structure.