District. They have returned to us by various pathways. One of the first taonga I had to buy back at auction in Wellington and return it to Hauraki kaumatua (who are now legally registered as collectors, which is the only way we could keep custody of our taonga). Other taonga have been gifted to us. Some taonga are also kept at the iwi offices, for example the Ngati Maru runanga in Thames and Ngati Tamatera in Paeroa.

Protected Objects Amendment Act 2006

50. In August 2006 the Protected Objects Amendment Act 2006 was passed. It will from 1 November 2006 rename the Antiquities Act 1975 the Protected Objects Act 1975 and it introduced what is intended to be simplified processes for determining custody and ownership of taonga (from 1 November 2006). The Act also recorded New Zealand’s obligations under international conventions to recover illegal exports of taonga and set up a register of protected objects that cannot be removed from New Zealand.

51. Importantly, the Protected Objects Amendment Act 2006 does not alter the fact that all taonga found from 1976 onwards are deemed to be prima facie the property of the Crown, subject to the establishment through the Maori Land Court of ownership. It is my understanding that only four applications for ownership have been made to the Maori Land Court and that in only three of these cases ownership was confirmed and in the fourth application ownership was declined.

52. It is difficult to see how the amendment to the Act will make any substantive difference to our situation since much of our property has already gone. There are vast collections of taonga in museums, but the law does not apply to most of these taonga as they were found prior to 1976, so eventual return to our ownership of these items is effectively out of our reach.

53. Linder the amendments to the Act, a new process for claims to ownership will be facilitated by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (“the Ministry”).