Editing Homestead Acts (section)

=== New Zealand ===
Despite the 1840 [[Treaty of Waitangi]] provisions for sale of land, the [[Māori Land Court]] decided that all land not cultivated by Māori was 'waste land' and belonged to [[the Crown]] without purchase.<ref>{{cite web |title=1. – Land ownership – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/land-ownership/page-1 |website=www.teara.govt.nz |access-date=2016-01-13 |author=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga}}</ref> Most [[Provinces of New Zealand|provinces]] in [[Colony of New Zealand|colonial New Zealand]] had [[List of Statutes of New Zealand (1840–90)|Waste Lands Acts]] enacted between 1854 and 1877. The 1874 Waste Lands Act in [[Auckland Province]] used the term Homestead, with allocation administered by a Crown Lands Board.<ref>{{cite web |title=Auckland Waste Lands Act 1874 (38 Victoriae 1874 No 16) |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/awla187438v1874n16308/ |access-date=2021-03-06 |website=www.nzlii.org}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Provincial District of Auckland — The Land Act, 1877 {{!}} NZETC |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Stout44-t5-body-d14.html |website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> There was similar legislation in [[Westland Province|Westland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=3. – Land ownership – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/land-ownership/page-3 |website=www.teara.govt.nz |access-date=2016-01-13 |author=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga}}</ref> It gave up to {{Convert|75|acre|ha|abbr = on}}, with [[settler]]s just paying the cost of a survey. They had to live there for five years, build a house and cultivate a third of the land, if already open, or a fifth if [[The bush|bush]] had to be cleared.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crown Lands Guide {{!}} NZETC |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Stout64-t18-body-d51.html |website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> The land was forfeited if they didn't clear enough bush.<ref name=":0" /> Further amendments were made in 1877, 1882 and 1885, adding details such as pastoral and perpetual leases and village and special settlements.<ref>{{cite web |last=Taonga |first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Centralisation after 1870 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/land-ownership/page-4 |access-date=2021-03-06 |website=teara.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref> This contributed to rapid [[Deforestation in New Zealand|deforestation]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Pond |first=Wendy |date=May 1997 |title=The Land with All Woods and Waters |url=https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/wt-theme-u-land-with-all-woods-and-waters.pdf |url-status=dead |website=WAITANGI TRIBUNAL |access-date=June 17, 2021 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813190537/https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/wt-theme-u-land-with-all-woods-and-waters.pdf }}</ref>