October 12, 2015
Tuhoronuku loan upsets minister
New Tuhoronuku chair Hone Sadler says the body charged with negotiating a settlement of Ngapuhi’s historic claims won’t take any more money from the Ngapuhi Runanga … as long as the government and the Crown Forestry Rentals Trust keep the funding tap flowing.
In a letter to Mr Sadler released under the Official Information Act, Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson criticized the fact Tuhoronuku borrowed half a million dollars from the runanga last year.
He said changes made to Tuhoronuku before its mandate was accepted were supposed to ensure it was independent from the runanga, but under former chair Sonny Tau the opposite seems to have happened.
Mr Finlayson said Tuhoronuku will not be underfunded provided he remains confident it is on the path to settlement.
Mr Sadler says the money was needed because of funding vacuums that affected Tuhoronuku’s cash flows, and it’s up to the crown agencies to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
The Ngapuhi Runanga has budgeted another $400,000 line of credit for Tuhoronuku this year, but he says Tuhoronuku has resolved not to use it.
Mr Finlayson also warned Tuhoronuku it needed to do more to get dissenting hapu to join the nominations, and if hapu kaikorero started leaving he could reconsider the mandate.
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