Category Archives: Trust Board Threads

Yet Another $50,000 from OTS for the Trust Board to waste

I’ve just received the latest funding information from OTS as at 27 September 2013. OTS have paid another $50,000 to the Trust Board, that’s $653,000 to date for the Trust Board to negotiate and communicate with our Iwi over the Governments offer. With an OTS budget approved $1.09 million the Trust Board still have $350,000 they can draw down from OTS.

Should the Trust Board remove the reference to “Pita’s Uncle” on page 8 of the Hui Booklet?

On a number of occasions both via email and in hui, it has been requested to the Trust Board and Chairperson directly that the reference on page 8 in the Consultation Hui Handbook to “Pita’s Uncle” be removed, as Pita was not his nephew.

In the first hui held in Auckland this question was discussed and agreed to by the Trust Board that the reference would be removed; however to date this has not happened.

More recently in the last hui held in Auckland, Pita explained that it was a general reference to uncle and not a specific one, and that he would need a good reason not to keep it in the booklet. Pita was then told point blank that he was ‘riding the coat tails of uncles mana’ and that it needed to stop.

So, should the reference be removed?

What is the Post Settlement Governance Entity?

32.  What is the Post Settlement Governance Entity?

Trust Board Reply:

The Post Settlement Governance Entity is the organisation that will receive any assets that form the Treaty settlement. That organisation must be elected and appointed by the Iwi who are registered for that Claim. The PSGE must meet rigorous standards set by the Crown, around governance, legal status, constitutional requirements, representations, transparency and accountability.

As the mandated enity it is the Trust Board’s responsibility to communicate with its claimant community – FAILED

As the mandated enity it is the Trust Board’s responsibility to communicate with its claimant community; however to date they have failed to do so. With only 80 people attending the 6 consultation hui, but yet the Trust Board have spent $603,000 worth of OTP funds trying to do so.

So here we are at an impasse; although the Minister of Maori Affairs has advised, “It is the mandated entity’s responsibility to communicate with its claimant community”, the entity refuses to communicate openly and freely. The Governments AIP offer is publically available; all of the funding details are publically available; the NKKWTB deed is publically available; but the entity still refuses to communicate openly.

I must admit I’m perplexed; I can’t see how the government expects the land claim process to succeed unless they can convince the Trust Board to openly communicate.

Rating Relief on Maori Freehold Land

I believe Ella Henry mentioned in the last hui that there are a number of restrictions on the use of the redress land. Ella mentioned that this is to our advantage as we would not have to pay rates for 30 years; which sounds ok on the surface; however perhaps Ella is not aware that Section 108 of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) requires all Councils to introduce policies for the remission and postponement of rates on Maori freehold land; which is what the Far North District Council has done.

Far North District Council – Maori Freehold Land Rates

So, the question I’m asking is perhaps we should re-negotiate these restrictions because we already appear to have the advantage Ella eluded to?