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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 27, No. 13. 1964.

Land Tenure Problem

Land Tenure Problem

As Albert Henry saw it the most pressing problem facing the Islands was that of land tenure. Economic development was being held up because of interminable legal squabbles over the land titles. The policy of his party was to reconstruct Polynesian society within the settlement or tribe in an effort gradually to straighten out land ownership problems. Mangaia, he said, was the only island that had maintained the traditional structure of society, and it had never had land trouble. At present a big pineapple planting scheme was being carried out there, without the bickering over titles and claims which marked other attempts at agricultural development.

It was a policy of putting the ariki back on his marae, of reestablishing the traditional structure of society and communal property holdings in an effort to bring order back to the tribe and settlement and to make economic development possible. It was something, said Henry, that legal-minded people would not understand. "The present system is making the Islander an individualist," he said: "because of that, they are poor."

Other policy points he mentioned were:

Planning—"Economic and agricultural development must be based on good planning—and it has not been like that in the past. Planning must go side by side with a solution to the land tenure problem."

Marketing—"I am not against enterprises, I am not against trade, but I am against monopolising trade as at present."

Entry restrictions—"Our party is opposed to restrictions on entry for political reasons. We will have nothing to hide. The New Zealand Government gives every Cook Islander freedom to come to New Zealand, and I see no reason why the Cook Islands' Government should not do the same." Education—"It has reached a high standard but I consider it is one-sided at present. In 5-10 years time under the present system the Cook Islands would be full of clerks and schoolteachers. I would like to see agricultural and technical schools opened right away."

NZ Government subsidy—"The subsidy has increased in the past 20 years from less than £40,000 to more than £lm. The party wants to work to reduce it, to make the Islands an asset rather than a liability."

Employment—"There is no unemployment. But at present it is easier to work for a store or the Government than to work on a plantation, so the land is being neglected. It is the plan of the party to encourage people to go back on the land and re-establish themselves."