$100m fund for Ma¯ori landowners

The Government is setting up a contestable $100 million fund for Ma¯ ori to develop land they own in the regions, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.

Kicking off four continuous days in Northland for Waitangi Day commemorations at the Otamatea Marae in Kaipara yesterday morning, Ardern announced around $120m of Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocation.

The vast majority of the funding will go towards the $100m fund, with $20.39m going towards investment in Kaipara.

‘‘Access to capital remains a challenge for Ma¯ ori landowners as the special status of their land means commercial banks are less willing to lend to them,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘I’m pleased that through the PGF, we’re in a unique position to be able to support these landowners.’’

Ardern pointed towards 2013 research which showed the vast majority of Ma¯ ori freehold land was not in productive use.

Because of the ‘‘inalienable rights’’, banks were not willing to lend to Ma¯ ori landowners, as they would not be able to seize the land in case of default.

‘‘This is just stepping in where there has been a market failure,’’ Ardern said.

The funding comes from the mammoth $3 billion PGF – itself a contestable fund, won by NZ First during coalition talks.

Most of the money for Kaipara would go towards upgrading and sealing the roads in the area, as 72 per cent are not sealed.

National regional economic development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said the Government was not funding the key road Northland needed – an upgrade to the state highway from Wellsford to Whangarei.

He also said the Government should be ‘‘wary’’ of becoming the ‘‘banker of last resort’’ for Ma¯ ori.

‘‘The extra capital for the development of Ma¯ ori land will be welcomed by Ma¯ ori – it’s a pity however, that the Government has axed the Te Ture Whenua Ma¯ori reforms which would have added hundreds of millions of dollars of value for Ma¯ ori landowners and their whanau by unlocking the economic potential of the around 1.4 million hectares of land,’’ Goldsmith said.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said supporting Ma¯ ori development was a key goal of the PGF, and he was stepping up where the last Government had failed.

‘‘They spent millions and millions of dollars trying to reform the act and not one single acre of Ma¯ ori land came into production,’’ Jones said.