January 19, 2017
Ngati Porou trust up for review
East Coast iwi Ngati Porou wants members living in the cities to tell it whether changes are needed in the trust that looks after the tribe’s $220 million settlement asset base.
It’s holding hui in Auckland and Hamilton tomorrow to kick off a review of the trust deed that came into force when the settlement was signed five years ago.
Trustee Mei Reedy-Taare says up to 15,000 Ngati Porou live in Tamaki Makaurau, more than are in the tribal rohe, but they tend to be disengaged from what happened back around Gisborne and the East Cape.
She says the hui are a chance to promote whakawhanaugatanga and see whether people are happy with where their money is invested and how it is spent.
She says over the past five years there has been a huge focus of maintaining marae and strengthening infrastructure on the coast, any people may want the trust to start looking out for the 70,000 Naatis living outside the rohe.
Everything is up for review and negotiation, including the way the runanga is structured and the way it runs its elections.
There was controversy at the last trustee election about what was described as an onerous registration policy, including a requirement that people produce a birth certificate to enrol.
RThe runanga has also had a turnover of chief executives, with suggestions that there were problems with the lines between governance and management in its structure.
The hui is at Te Whanau o Waipareira in west Auckland from 10am to noon tomorrow, and at the Runanga Room at the University of Waikato in Hamilton from 3pm.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com