Minister’s family awarded contracts
WELLINGTON: The husband and family members of Labour minister Nanaia Mahuta were awarded contracts worth $90,000 by the Ministry for the Environment at a time when Ms Mahuta was the department’s associate minister.
A spokesman for Ms Mahuta said ‘‘the minister has had no involvement in the appointment of family members’’.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show that Ka Awatea Services, a consultancy owned by (William) Gannin Ormsby, Ms Mahuta’s husband, was paid $25,000 for work that began in late October 2020 and ran for 12 months.
The work was described by the ministry as ‘‘Maori expert ropu’’.
A second consultancy, Kawai Catalyst, owned by Tamoko Ormsby, a relative of Gannin Ormsby, and his wife, Waimirirangi Ormsby, was paid $65,000 for work described as ‘‘support for Maori expert ropu’’ over the same period.
Tamoko Ormsby and Waimirirangi Ormsby are also both directors of Gannin Ormsby’s consultancy, Ka Awatea.
In 2020, the Ministry for the Environment described Waimirirangi Ormsby as project manager at Ka Awatea.
A Ministry for the Environment spokesman declined to confirm whether any further fees had been paid to consultancies connected with the Ormsbys outside the 202021 financial year and the department is considering the questions under the OIA process.
The three family members were part of a fivemember Maori group of advisers, or ‘‘ropu’’, formed by the ministry in 2020 to contribute to a waste strategy review.
The group was described by the department at the time as ‘‘Maori waste minimisation technical experts and thought leaders with wide experience in the sector’’.
Ministry deputy secretary of water policy and resource efficiency Sam Buckle said the ropu was not asked to prepare a separate report.
‘‘They were required to provide expertise and advice incorporating a Maori world view during the project, including participating in meetings with the general advisory group, preparing and presenting a conceptual framework draft and contributing to the developing content of the proposals.’’
Gannin Ormsby’s Linkedin page notes he was employed in ‘‘iwi relationships’’ at the Waikato Regional Council from 2005 to 2015.
Ms Mahuta’s spokesman said ‘‘the minister ensures that no conflict exists or appears to exist between her personal interests and portfolio responsibilities, in accordance with the guidance in the Cabinet manual.’’ Waimirirangi Ormsby was also appointed to the technical working group on a plan for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DWG) which produced the controversial He Puapua report for the Government in 2019.
The report recommended much greater powersharing between the Crown and Maori over the coming decades.
He Puapua was supplied by DWG chairwoman Claire Charters to Ms Mahuta as chairwoman of the Cabinet Maori/Crown relations committee in November 2019.
Ms Mahuta’s office directed questions about the appointments to the ‘‘agencies responsible for those appointments’’.
Ms Mahuta is also in charge of the contentious water reforms planned by the Government.
Tipa Mahuta, Ms Mahuta’s sister, is also a powerful political figure and active in the area of water governance.
Official documents show early last year responsibility for appointments to the Maori advisory group to Taumata Arowai, the newly formed drinking water regulator, passed temporarily, for the period from February to June, from Nanaia Mahuta as Minister for Local Government to her colleague Kelvin Davis.
The purpose was to mitigate a potential conflict of interest related to family.
In May last year, Mr Davis appointed Tipa Mahuta as chairwoman of the Taumata Arowai Maori advisory group.
She is also a Waikato regional councillor, cochairwoman of the Waikato River Authority and cochairwoman of the Maori Health Authority.