115 Human Rights Commission (Continued) i. The Treaty Settlements policy and Waitangi Tribunal (for government with tino rangatiratanga partners) Review the ’full and final’ Treaty Settlements policy because that process was forced on tangata whenua and has returned less than one per cent of land that belonged to Māori whenua owners. ii. Investigate pathways to return and restore land to iwi, hapū and whānau. iii. Empower the anti-racism mandate of the Waitangi Tribunal, by strengthening the levers to ensure that the recommendations of the Tribunal to the Crown and local government are taken seriously and actioned. iv. Hear claims and make recommendations for the return of private land under the control of the Crown and local government which the Crown and/ or local government is considering ‘freeing up’ for sale and development. v. Māori Land and Rates (for government, local government, Ministry of Māori Development and the Māori Trustee, with tino rangatiratanga partners) Recognise the Waitangi Tribunal as a Te Tiriti constitutional body. 14. The government recognises that for 182 years, legislation and policy forced Māori to pay rates on Māori land (while local government under-serviced that land), Māori rates were diverted to develop non-Māori land, Māori access to funds and infrastructure to develop Māori land was blocked, and the practices of the Native/Māori Land Court and Māori land rates resulted in material hardship for Māori and mass urban migration, accordingly the government could consider the following actions: i. Support the restoration of tino rangatiratanga so Māori whenua owners have control over their land and review the rates system for Māori land. ii. Amend the Whenua Māori Rating Amendment Bill to direct local government to strike out all rates currently owing on Māori land and, if rates are collected in future, these rates are returned to benefit Māori whenua owners. iii. Develop easier pathways to return dispossessed land to iwi, hapū and whānau. This includes recognition of Māori land tenure, collective stewardship, collective self-determination, and collective sustainable selfsufficiency. 15. The Minister of Local Government establishes an independent body, with tino rangatiratanga partners (supported by the Māori Trustee) to take urgent action to review the way Māori whenua is rated so the benefits are returned directly to the owners. The government could consider the following actions: i. Review and reassess rates on Māori land to reflect the owners’ access to their land, and/or any obstructed use and development of their land. ii. Undertake surveys to confirm the correct boundaries of Māori land blocks. iii. Determine the infrastructure, such as roading, commensurate with Pākehā land and settlements, required to develop the land and where necessary provide the infrastructure and remedies for this at no cost to the owners.