The Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill has two purposes: firstly, to support owners of Māori freehold land to engage with, use, develop, and live on their whenua; and, secondly, to modernise some aspects of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 that are inconsistent with today's expectations of Māori Crown relationships. Part 1 addresses changes to the rating Act to support these two purposes, proposes supporting the development of and provision for housing on whenua Māori, our inability for a local authority chief executive to write off rates arrears, provision of a statutory rates remission process for whenua Māori under development, making unused whenua Māori non-rateable, treating multiple blocks of whenua Māori that are used together as one rating purpose, and allowing individual houses on whenua Māori to be rated separately from other houses and land uses on the block.