Shutting the gate after taonga have bolted

The battle for the return of the Taranaki pataka (storehouse) panels from England failed

A law change designed to stop the illegal overseas trade of New Zealand's cultural treasures has been described as too little, too late by a leading museum expert.

The Protected Objects Amendment Bill will set up a register of precious objects that cannot be removed from New Zealand and increase the penalties on traffickers.

But the bill, which was passed last week, is not retrospective so it cannot be used to seek the return of the thousands of national treasures that have already moved off shore.

Paul Tapsell, Maori director at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, said many thousands of New Zealand treasures had already been lost to private owners and museums around the world.

"Something like this 50 to 100 years ago would have been good. It's now too little and too late."

He doubted that stiffer penalties would dampen the enthusiasm of traffickers eager to cash in on booming international demand for Maori taonga.

Recent history shows that when Maori artefacts held overseas occasionally become available, the asking price is often too high for New Zealand museums.

Last month a carving from a Te Arawa meeting house, Hinemihi, exported more than 100 years ago, was put up for sale by its Paris-based owner, with a US$2 million ($3.3 million) asking price.

Te Papa declined to bid on the object because it was too expensive.

In 1998 a carving of a Maori chief from the 1840s sold for $1 million at Sotheby's New York. The life-size figure originally served as part of a post in a meeting house and was exported by 19th-century British missionary Bishop William Williams.

During last week's debate in Parliament, Associate Arts Minister Mahara Okeroa told MPs the bill was being introduced to help deal with the increasing international problem of culture being a "sought-after commodity".

Mr Okeroa said objects listed on the register could be subject to claims for recovery through conventions if illegally exported.

The bill also made less expensive and onerous the process for claiming ownership of heritage objects through the Maori Land Court.

It increased the penalties for illicitly exporting or destroying such objects. Individuals found guilty of wilfully damaging or destroying heritage objects were liable for fines of $10,000 or up to two years' jail, or a fine of up to $20,000 for each object in the case of a body corporate.

Ministry for Culture and Heritage operations manager Brodie Stubbs said there were recent examples where attempts to repatriate objects had been knocked back by international courts.

The most recent involved a 1910 Fowler Traction engine, one of a rare few in the country still operational.

The engines fetch high prices in the United Kingdom, where the tractor in question was exported by falsifying export declaration forms.

Then there was the high-profile case of the celebrated Taranaki pataka panel, also known as Ortiz panels. An English court refused to order the return of the panels on the ground that New Zealand could not enforce a domestic law in a foreign country.

Te Papa's Maori community partnerships manager, Arapata Hakiwai, said the number of cultural items lost from the country was staggering, with the British Museum alone holding around 3000 Maori items.

The British Museum has former New Zealand Governor-General George Grey's collection, which includes a traditional sail and a unique korowai [cloak].

Haere ra

* Many of New Zealand's most valuable Maori artefacts are held by museums and private owners overseas.

* The British Museum alone holds more than 3000 Maori items.

* A law change passed by Parliament last week will establish a register of precious objects.

* The Government would fight to get these back if anyone exported them illegally but the law will not affect taonga already overseas.