February 20, 2013
Pressure to spend $70m on iwi
Tainui’s Executive Chair, Tom Roa, says the tribe still has to decide how to use its $70 million treaty settlement top up.
The money was paid by the Crown to ensure the total Waikato-Tainui Raupatu settlement remains at 17 percent of the total of all historic settlements.
It has been placed on deposit with the treasury department of the tribe’s commercial arm, Tainui Group Holdings.
Previous settlement money was loaned to TGH and has gradually been converted into equity for the company, which has grown the tribe’s assets to more than $700 million.
But Mr Roa says there are many in the tribe who want to spend the latest injection in a different way.
“It’s very clear, there’s a very clear message from the iwi that the $70 million that is the new injection has to be used for iwi matters. There’s a debate that needs to occur with how best we can use that $70 million”. says Tom Roa, the chair of Te Arataura.
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