123 experiencing material hardship and malnutrition was widespread (Reid, J. et al, 2017: 33). Māori succumbed to ongoing disease while land court sittings became conduits of disease due to the need for iwi to relocate to townships and stay, sometimes for months, and mix with people carrying infectious diseases (Taonui, 2012). By 1860, the European population equalled the Māori population. By the end of the 19th century, Human Rights Commission the Māori population declined to 40,000 and the Pākehā population was 15 times larger than Māori (Lange 1999: 18). Welfare Old Age Pensions Act 1898. This is a world first and seen as the foundation of the Welfare State in New Zealand. A small means-tested pension is available to elderly people with few assets who were ‘of good moral character’. Māori landowners were disqualified automatically. The Act was later amended to make applications more testing. Proof of age (65) was required, which disadvantaged most Māori because their births had not been registered. If Māori were eligible for the pension, they received less than Pākehā. Chinese, Indian, Syrian, Singhalese and Lebanese were specifically excluded (Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2020). 1900-1930: Public Works legislation to take Māori land continues; rates on Māori land; Māori MPs attempt to stop land taking; police assault on Maungapōhatu; the Ngata-Stout Commission; the Sim Commission, World War I. Land By the early 20th century about 2 million hectares of land remained in Māori ownership. Māori leaders repeatedly petitioned Parliament to take action to protect Māori from landlessness, and to make better use of Māori land regarded as unoccupied and unproductive. (Waitangi Tribunal 2010, Whaanga, Mere. 2012) Māori resistance within Kāwanatanga Māori Land Administration Act 1900 (aka the Taihoa Policy) James Carroll, Native Minister from 1899, tried to slow the rate of Māori land loss. He established a Māori Land Administration Department and several Māori Land Councils empowered to recognise specific areas of Māori land as papakāinga blocks, which could never be sold. The aim was to ensure Māori communities retain sufficient land, it promoted leasing rather than sales of Māori land (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010). Councils were partly elected which meant it was possible for Māori majority on the Councils. The new policy successfully reduced the flow of Māori land available for sale but because of its success, the councils were abolished in 1905. (Waitangi Tribunal 2010 Wai 863). 1907: The Ngata-Stout Commission - provided a report on the state of Māori landholdings across the country. The Commission recommends that Crown purchasing of Māori land should stop, alienation by direct negotiation between owners and private individuals be prohibited, further alienation of Māori land should be controlled by land boards (with preference for leasing), and that Māori be trained and assisted to develop their own agricultural enterprise (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010). The Crown’s response was the Native Lands Act 1909 and its amendment of 1913 which incorporated precisely none of the Commission’s recommendations. (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010). Pākehā Legislation Public Works Act 1903 expands the definition of ‘public works to include road frontages, forest plantations, and recreation grounds (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010). Māori Land Settlement Act 1905 replaced Māori Land Councils with seven Māori Land Boards (there were no iwi representatives on the boards). If owners were in arrears with their rates, … the Crown could compulsorily vest their lands in the land boards. Land that was considered ‘surplus’ (not required or suitable for occupation by its owners) could also be compulsorily vested. Land boards administered the lands on behalf of the owners and could lease out blocks for up to 50 years (Whaanga, M. 2012). This was the precursor of