December 16, 2021
Occupiers not wanted on Port Nicholson board
A former war crimes investigator is the highest polling candidate for the four open positions on the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, which administers the Taranaki Whānui settlement in Wellington.
Ali Anitawaru Cole graduated with first-class honours from Cambridge University and Harvard Law School and now works as an environmental and human rights lawyer based between Pōneke and Ōhawe.
She has been offering pro-bono legal advice on the Matai Moana occupation of the site of the former Mount Crawford prison, which the trust has an option to buy.
Ihaia Puketapu, who is leading that occupation, and Anaru Jenkins-Mepham, who is part of the Mau Whenua occupation at Shelly Bay, missed out on election.
The other successful candidates were Wharehoka Wano, the former chair of the Te Atiawa Taranaki Settlements Trust and current chief executive of Te Kāhui o Taranaki Iwi, Hutt City Council economy and development director Kara Puketapu-Dentice, and Department of Conservation partnership manager Daniel Harrison, who is also a trustee of Te Kahui o Taranaki.
Port Nicholson Trust reported an after-tax profit for the year ended March 31 of $8.2 million and net assets of $51 million, up from $15 million five years ago when it started clawing its way out of the financial hole created by its purchase of the Shelly Bay development site.