May 04, 2015
Urban Maori stake challenged in TOKM review
The head of the country’s largest iwi wants a radical change to a trust designed to share some of the rewards of the Maori fisheries settlement trust with urban Maori.
Iwi are considering the recommendations of a statutory review of Maori fisheries settlement structures by Wellington barrister Tim Castle.
Ngapuhi chair Sonny Tau, who is also deputy chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana Maori fisheries settlement trust, says a recommendation the trust be wound up and its assets distributed to iwi went beyond the scope of the law.
But he says it is possible to trim down Te Ohu Kaimoana by dividing up among iwi the 20 percent of income shares it holds in the trust.
He says a subsidiary trust, Te Putea Whakatupu, should narrow its focus to development fisheries and commercial expertise among iwi.
"This Putea Whakatupua I understood at the time was argued by (Manukau Urban Maori Authority, Federation of Maori Authorities) and some other groups as belonging to people who did not affiliate to their iwi and lived in cities. We think we have moved on from that. Iwi have significant beneficiary lists now and I think that every man and his dog know exactly who they belong to at this point and time," Mr Tau says.
He says the recommendation will be that the number of trustees on Te Putea Whakatupu increase to five. It currently has three trustees and a quorum of three, meaning it has struggled to make decisions if there is any difference of opinion between trustees.
The Iwi Working Group which is consulting on the recommendations before they are voted on at next month’s special general meeting bypassed Auckland in its round of hui.
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