Decision made to disestablish trust
Moves are under way to disestablish a trust board set up to represent the interests of Taranaki Ma¯ ori almost 90 years ago.
The decision about the Taranaki Ma¯ ori Trust Board’s (TMTB) future is the result of 10 years’ worth of discussion, but further hui will be needed to work out how millions in assets will be distributed to benefit all eight iwi around the mountain.
On September 4, Minister for Ma¯ ori Development Nanaia Mahuta was present at a ceremony held at Owae Marae in Waitara, to sign the deed of settlement regarding an annuity buyout package for TMTB worth $20.8 million.
First established in 1930, the existence of TMTB had been enshrined in legislation since 1955 and it received yearly annuities from the Government in recognition of historical land confiscation.
The funds were disbursed to assist in the promotion of health, welfare and education for its beneficiaries.
Talks about the future of TMTB have been ongoing for more than a decade, with three options on the table; maintaining the status quo, changing the board’s structure or disestablishing it altogether.
Its website said consultation hui found that the board was not meeting iwi expectations, its role and function was unclear and it was not representative enough.
On Wednesday, Mahuta said the $20.8m settlement came out of a wider conversation government had begun with iwi around Aotearoa in 2013, regarding the buyout of annuities. She said at the time Taranaki iwi groups were still in the process of settling their individual Treaty of Waitangi claims.
However, with Nga¯ ti Maru on the cusp of finalising its treaty deal, the last of the region’s iwi to do so, the settlement around the annuity buyout could be reached.
She was aware of the move to disestablish TMTB which she said was not unusual as other boards had done the same before setting up a different entity to manage the funds.
Mahuta said she was waiting to be advised by TMTB about its next steps but an amendment to the Ma¯ ori Trust Board Act would be required.
The board has been an important touchstone to provide a way to represent Taranaki Ma¯ori. It oversaw the vesting of Mt Taranaki back to the region in 1978, along with the decision to gift it back to the Government as a taonga for the nation.
Following the release of the Waitangi Tribunal Taranaki report, known as Kaupapa Tuatahi, the region’s eight iwi decided to set up their own entities to settle treaty claims with the Crown.
TMTB beneficiary Grant Knuckey felt there was a lack of transparency around how the board reached that decision and while he acknowledged the rising autonomy and independence of iwi groups in Taranaki, he was concerned about a collective voice for Ma¯ ori being lost.
A formal ceremony is likely at a later date to mark the disestablishment of TMTB and further hui was planned later this year and in 2020 to discuss how its assets will be distributed to benefit all iwi in Taranaki.