In developing proposals for this bill, it became apparent that in previous reviews of rating legislation, issues around rating Māori land had been put in the too-hard basket. The result is that much of our present law about rating Māori land dates back to 1924 and what was then known as the Native Lands Rating Act. This bill makes some changes to bring rating law into line with the current expectations for Māori-Crown relationships and, importantly, the unique land tenure system applying to whenua Māori.