Ng¯ai Te Rangi focus is on its people
Iwi around the country are stamping their mark on the business world and providing employment opportunities, health, social services and cultural connections. Carmen Hall spent one week with Nga¯i Te Rangi for an inside look at its operations. This is the
Nga¯i Te Rangi has more than doubled its value to about $60 million in five years as iwi around the country build business empires and develop a Ma¯ ori economy worth tens of billions of dollars.
Future developments Nga¯i Te Rangi is investigating include a multi-complex Mount Maunganui site which could feature a hotel and a supermarket as it looks to cement its financial future.
Former New Zealand Maori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki estimated the national Ma¯ori economy was worth $60 billion to $70 billion and could grow to $100b in 10 years.
Ma¯ori own 50 per cent of New Zealand’s fishing quota and had significant assets in dairy, beef, kiwifruit, forestry and ma¯nuka honey, he said.
Massive investments had also been made into commercial properties.
Nga¯i Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley said Ma¯ori organisations had become a force to be reckoned with and were “economic legends” that nobody talked about.
“They are a power in their own right and have made some really smart business decisions.”
The Ma¯ori economy in the Bay of Plenty generated about $2b a year and had large holdings in horticulture, he said.
Since Nga¯ i Te Rangi’s Treaty of Waitangi settlement of $26.5m plus interest in 2013, it had invested in commercial properties and seen significant growth in its social services and education arms. The iwi has now grown the settlement to about $60m.
The iwi had 29 governmentfunded contracts compared to 21 in 2020-21. Those contracts were with ministries including health, education, social development, housing and urban development, Ka¯inga Ora, Oranga Tamariki, justice, police and the Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation.
Stanley said its investment in commercial properties made sense and was a long-term investment strategy.
The iwi owned Mount Central at Mount Maunganui, a complex with seven tenants, and had plans to potentially develop some of the carpark into viable options to be announced shortly.
That project was under wraps but it had the potential to be a valuable asset.
In Tauranga, Nga¯i Te Rangi owns a three-storey building on Second Ave and its main tenant is Employ NZ.
On the social services front, the iwi owns a block of eight apartments in Mayfair St used for transitional housing and six, sixbedroom student accommodation houses at Windermere.
Another potential development was a 10-storey hotel/retail/office building on the Port of Tauranga’s head office site beside its office on Salisbury Ave.
For Stanley, such investments were about security for the future and having assets that would increase over time.
“You’ve got to have good financial lines and great people. Sometimes organisations get into a zone and forget who they are there for.”
However, a looming recession was a concern and the iwi would be mindful of spending in the current economic climate, Stanley said.
“We will make sure we keep the commercial arm going to make sure we have sufficient money behind us so when everyone else hits the wall we don’t follow them.”
Nga¯i Te Rangi chairman Charlie Tawhiao said he was pleased with its financial performance, however, “our economic growth is a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
“We don’t see ourselves as being successful just because we have a lot of money but rather what difference we are making in the lives of our people. I think the biggest investment we are making is not necessarily commercial development . . . our real wealth lies in our people not how much money we make.”
He said his primary objective was to ensure the mana of Nga¯ i Te Rangi was upheld.
“What that really means is Nga¯i Te Rangi is the people, not the organisation.”
A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said it was keen to explore commercial opportunities with Nga¯i Te Rangi and other Tauranga Moana iwi.
“We already have a successful joint venture under way in the Waikato, developing the Ruakura Inland Port in partnership with Tainui Group Holdings. There are no specific proposals for Tauranga under way yet.”
Tukaki said iwi were innovative but often flew under the radar. “To be frank we get so distracted and bogged down by everyone else wanting to keep the narrative around social outcomes like Ma¯ori are members of gangs and this and that.
“When we do try and tell that story they say: ‘Oh well, you have been given all these Treaty settlements.”
However, the Ma¯ori economy now employed about 80,000 to 100,000 people, he said.
Tukaki is Nga¯i Te Rangi and is proud of its economic achievements.
“My goodness, growing that [from $26.5m to about $60m] is incredible and, if they can double in size again over the next decade to $120m, it would be wonderful.”
TDB Advisory, an independent consultancy specialising in corporate finance, produced an iwi investment report for the year to March, which revealed the asset bases of Nga¯i Tahu, Nga¯puhi, Nga¯ti Awa, Nga¯ti Pa¯hauwera, Ngati Porou, Nga¯ti Wha¯tua O¯ra¯kei, Raukawa, Tu¯hoe and Waikato-tainui grew by $1b to $10.8b in total.
Nga¯ti Wha¯tua Ora¯kei ¯ was the strongest performer and returned 18.8 per cent annually, which was attributed to its concentration of assets in the Auckland property market, including Quay Park.
TDB Advisory director Phil Barry said it “is very much a good news story. They are sizable players.”
He said the success of iwi was due to good governance, wise investment decisions, taking a long-term approach and the magic of compound interest.
Iwi were also investing managed funds.
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said iwi holdings in the Bay of Plenty were less mature than you might see in the Waikato but “they will be every bit as significant to our economy in the years to come and play a much bigger role. Another thing you need to bear in mind is Ma¯ori by and large have poorer employment outcomes than non-ma¯ori. The best way to improve that, aside from education, is to get really good jobs.
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