2022 Hui-ā-Tau Minutes

HUI-Ā-TAU MINUTES Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board

Great Lake Centre, 5 Story Place, Taupō, 3 December 2022, 10:00 AM

Hui-ā-Tau

HUI-Ā-TAU – MINUTES

WELCOME AND KARAKIA Opening karakia:

NGĀ MEMA POARI Ngahere Wall

Mihi: Ngahere Wall welcomed whānau to the hui. Ngahere then handed over to fellow Board member Judy Harris to present and explain ngā tikanga o te hui and house rules.

Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board Members Present John Bishara (Chairman), Te Takinga New, Tangonui Kingi, Channey Iwikau, Heemi Biddle, Judy Harris, Danny Loughlin, Ngahere Wall, with Rakei Taiaroa (CEO).

Present Recorded on the Attendance Register.

Opening John Bishara (Chairman) acknowledged those in attendance with a mihimihi. The first responsibility of the Chair was to introduce the Board Members that were in attendance.

Board members introduced themselves.

APOLOGIES Board Members: Hon Dame Georgina te Heuheu (Deputy Chair) Patricia Otimi.

Beneficiaries: Noted today at the registration desk or have been submitted prior to the hui by phone and email to our offices.

RESOLVED: That the apologies for the Hui-ā- Tau of the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board held 3 December 2023 be received.

Moved: Janice Wall Seconded: Kata Rameka CARRIED

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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS HUI-Ā-TAU The minutes (distributed with the Annual Report 2022) of the previous Hui-ā-Tau of the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board held 20 November 2021 were taken as read. The Chairman advised that any matters arising from the minutes would be addressed in General Business.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the previous Hui-ā-Tau held on 21 November 2020 be confirmed as a true and accurate record.

Moved:

ANNUAL REPORT The Annual Report for 2022 was presented by way of a 10-minute video.

RESOLVED: That the Annual Report for 2022 be received.

Moved: Charmaine Pene Seconded: Faith Pitama CARRIED

Rahapa Rameka Seconded: Manu Patena

TRIUMVIRATE PRESENTATION The CEO presented the Triumvirate presentation.

CARRIED

FINANCIAL REPORT CHAIRMAN’S REPORT John Bishara presented the Chairman’s Report.

RESOLVED: That the Chairman’s Report be received.

Moved: Fiona Chase Seconded: Ngatoru Wall CARRIED

The Financial Report was presented by Danny Loughlin by way of a 10-minute video.

RESOLVED: Receive the Financial Report.

Receive the Summarised Financial Statements of the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board for the year ended 30 June 2022.

Receive the Summarised Financial Statements of the Taupō Waters Trust for the year ended 30 June 2022.

Note the budget for the next accounting year (1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023).

Approve the appointment of Silks Audit as auditors for 2022-2023.

Moved: Greg Stebbing Seconded: Waka Asher CARRIED

HUI-Ā-TAU – MINUTES

EARTHQUAKE Ngahere Wall delivered a special presentation on the Trust Boards involvement with the seismic activity that took place on 30 November 2022.

WHAKAWHITI KORERO/ GENERAL BUSINESS Kata Rameka On behalf Pukawa Marae and Ngati Manunui we wanted to thank the Trust Board for the Ringa Raupa mahi that they completed at Pukawa Marae as well as the grants that have been given to redo the men’s wharepaku, the heat pumps in the wharenui as well as the future mahi to do our wharekai. A big thank you for all of that help that was given to Pukawa Marae.

Fiona Chase I am interested in the Trust Boards thinking around RAL and I’d like some feedback on how you think the Trust will move forward with that.

Response - CEO The CEO explained that this is a running issue at the moment. He explained that the weather was not well for the company last year. Winter was quite mild and from an operational perspective this has made it very difficult to carry on. Most of the costs for that activity are staff. When you come to where we are in the picture 2016-2017, they sought some support for a bond. In this case our Lawyers advised that we get a security bond.

The bond is secured over the gondola. We had about six Trusts and Incorporations who put in some money towards it and created a bond that we stuck to but also the Taupo District Council the Ruapehu District Council, all were part of our bond. The security part was our bond. The RAL were not too happy about this.

The CEO explained that if it went to liquidation what would happen is that they would sell items or sell everything else but the gondola. Our bond is secured on the gondola itself. The most valuable asset of that company is the gondola.

We have hedged ourselves to a place that if we went into liquidation, we would get some money back.

We met with the Crown with MBIE and the Voluntary Administrator (VA) who the Directors called in; the VA is from Price Waterhouse Coopers. We found the VA very lackadaisical with the poignant task that he was given.

Long story short we have the Crown in the middle of it, elections are coming up, you have 800 people displaced in terms of jobs. The real reason that we went into it with our Trusts and Incorporations who are primarily around the mountain, Waihi Pukawa, Lake Rotoaira Forest Trust, the Lake Trust was that RAL was the biggest employer of Tūwharetoa people within the Ruapehu and South Taupō district.

This climate hasn’t helped. Also, the company structure that they had; it was important to change that structure. There is an opportunity to do that now. The next four months are very important, it’s up to the Crown primarily. If liquidation comes back, we are still in a very good position.

Chairman The Chair added there are two parts there is the business and Rakei is pushing hard on how we can make the business recover on our terms. In the context that the korero is all about snow and there is not much snow there. Another reason why we went into this investment was because it was a seven-day, 24-hour opportunity to move people around the maunga. We think that that is a business opportunity, not just snow. There are only 38 days per year that we get snow and 27with climate change. One other point that I raise with these investments when you hear the communications from Mayors and all of those sorts of people about a dog of an investment that they have made on there.

One thing that we don’t shift our focus on and that’s the Tongariro National Park. The Tongariro National Park is ours this is in conjunction with that other iwi.

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We spoke with Tumu. It is time now for us to go a little bit stronger with the claim over the park. I am working with Tumu to try and get that, to push it harder so then we are in the driver’s seat for the Tongariro National Park. It is about the National Park and those taonga tuku iho that have been there for generations. If you can understand, we’ve got a number of positions that we will take and you will hear us taking, but they are all collectively. They are about us, owning, running, and maturing the National Park philosophy being ours.

Angela Taituha I have a slight mamae with my patai. I refer to financials and to Danny Loughlin. On page 59 clause 6.3 with regards to the Marae Works Capital Grants. One hundred thousand dollars was given to Ngāti Te Maunga between 2017 and 2020 of which $78,000 was taken back, because the work was not able to be completed after 2 years. I want the Board to know that it was quite humiliating in terms of aspirations for some of our Ngāti Te Maunga hapū. I will never take another grant out again because of that. The action, we are still working on that and had to seek funding to be able to get our marae open. Which has constantly for years been the subject hanging over our heads. And every effort is presently being made to meet that. I think that Te Maunga deserves an apology from the Board in the way that the $78,000 was taken back. A lot of our kaumatua and pakeke have passed over the years. There is just us around my age now, I’m 68, in those years of age that can stand before you to speak. I hope that you will accept my standing up for them in saying this in some way.

Chairman To Ngāti Te Maunga if we need to apologise I do that on behalf of the Board and if you felt that you were disadvantaged by that decision that we’ve made then I do apologise for that. However, can I speak also on behalf of the Board. When you look at our financials, and this is one of those major disruptions that happened during Covid, is our ability to have projects lined up in the financial years and completed.

Waihi was the same $142,000 was taken back, because right at the beginning we got the money, and we couldn’t do it. Now that has put us back a long way, probably 10 years. But we understand.

We put it hard to the Board too. We do understand from Waihi that if you can’t complete your project then does others who are funded and lined up to do. It’s not our fault, it’s not your fault, it’s the conditions that we are under.

These were terrible times, but I say to you I really apologise if you feel that way. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to get another putea exactly the same, but I would encourage you to do is reapply and if that wasn’t communicated to you. Because we need to line up the projects, we have a limited amount of money that we can actually apply to our Marae Capital Grants, but we want to help you to project manage and I want to allow Rakei to complete the programme. We have a 10-year programme. And a lot of the time we don’t get enough proposals to meet the funding amount that we have.

Just before Covid we got a heap in and managed to distribute good financial support for very good projects then bang Covid happened. Please don’t blame yourselves, it’s just the conditions that we have had to work under. Truly sorry for putting that burden on Ngāti Te Maunga and those whanau from Whanganui Bay. Janice Wall I would like to comment on the cadetships that were created. Thank you for doing such an amazing job with the cadetships that our Rangatahi over the past 4 years. He mihi mahana ki te Board.

I’d like to also acknowledge the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board and the stellar job with the Iwi Chairs that was hosted here by Tūwharetoa. He mihi mahana ki a koe Rakei what an amazing job with you and your team. Your team are amazing and always helpful.

This is Snowy-Rose. She would like to say thank you for her Kohanga reo grant that you gave her this year.

HUI-Ā-TAU – MINUTES

Tuwharetaiao was a Rangatahi leadership programme that the Trust Board started with Dylan Tahau leading it out and Topia. I mention this as it is time to bring it back. I’ve spoken with Peter Shepherd who Rakei pointed me to. Peter’s keen and I think we are ready as an iwi to pick that up again for our Rangatahi leadership. One of your staff Journey was a part of our Rangatahi at that time.

For the first time ever for the Tūwharetoa Taiopenga our Trust Board didn’t support us and I just want to put that in your pockets for conversation around the Board, that you pulled our funding this year. I have a solution that maybe you talk with Council about not charging us for the venue, a lot of the funding that we do get goes back to the Council for us to hold the Tūwharetoa Taiopenga which is our only Kapa Haka stand that our kids get here Tūwharetoa.

Tuwharetoa Kura A Iwi placed 4th at the Te Arawa Regional Kapa Haka and that puts us to go to Nationals in Nelson next year. That’s, Ngapuke, Te Kura o Waitahanui, Hirangi and maybe some of our Whakarewa tamariki. I’d like to acknowledge some of the work that Poutama and Te Uira Paki for getting us there. We are going to Nationals Trust Board.

He is mihi mahana kia koutou. You’re doing such a great job. It’s hard to sit at these tables and keep everybody happy. But I know a huge focus with our Trust Board is through our Rangatahi and through our tamariki.

Response CEO Tuwharetaiao, I think it is time to think about it.

With regard to the Taiopenga we did give funds but reduced funds, unfortunately when you put a budget in front of me, I’m going to slice it in a rejigging way. Certainly, it’s time for that to be rejigged, thank you. And thank you for your salutations for everything we do and my team, and yourself during the NICF, yourself and your whanau for assisting with our necessities for those times Janice. We thank you very much.

Ngatoru Wall I like to bring to the board’s attention take (issue) that we see on a daily. Take we just don’t know where to put the questions to but as we are here the kaupapa comes to you. One is around the hot water the Onekeneke. We have whanau that work in motels that comment around the water intake of the thermal hot water. An example is the Reef Resort just opposite Waipahihi Marae, every day they drain the puna that they have, which is thermal water, which they drain out and more water comes in which closes off the hot water systems, they run out of water. So, if they are taking that the Onekeneke continues to become cold, and it is still running cold now. Around that is the help and support that we need as hapū to find out what is happening in our spaces of our wai.

The other one is the two-mile bay sailing club.

How do they continue to have assets they have picnic tables in the lake. The place smells like mimi and their footprint is growing daily. It’s a concern to us, why? Because our Koura beds are next door, right there in this bay. It’s just us trying to fight on the ground like the warriors we are but we don’t have the resourcing as hapū and whanau and these things flag us, it’s wrong. Especially if we were brought up to take koura by the blue light and wharewaka is all our beds.

The sewage spills that have been happening. The sewage spills are going into our koura beds as well. I’m not sure when you last ate koura, but we haven’t taken koura from there for the last few years. How are we monitoring that, how are we monitoring those koura beds to make sure that we don’t get ill if we take those koura and put them on the table.

The reef at Waitahanui, we had take (issue) at those times when my uncles were on the Board around the reef. Us as tangata whenua, some of us didn’t want it. We were told that once that water touches that reef Mercury would come and pull it out. The Mercury man left the job, and we are stuck with the reef. Now we are dealing with swift and fast-moving water that took a life. A lady was fishing, she got swept off her feet, her

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waders filled up with water, and we lost her, kua mate. Another fisherman got swept off his feet, the cousin had to go and grab the shop keeper and their boat and saved him. Now we have a problem, danger and not body is aware of it, because Waitahanui awa is a tourist attraction.

A feasibility study was done to change, divert and bring back the straight in the groin which cost over $100,000, too much money. We need help to restore, that water way. We hear about it, but the follow-ups, there are no follow ups to the take (issue) and now that water is starting to erode all of our banks. And the banks right up to the back of the awa are now starting to cave in. He take tera. Our black sand is now gone because of the deposits Whanganui sand that they brought in to dump and deposit along the Waitahanui beach. Because the take (issue) was from the rich property owners who were getting hammered by the wave action from the westerly winds, eroding the land. So, they brought in sand and took away our black sand. The black sand is where the inanga spawns, so we don’t have inanga running down our Tutemohuta bay.

Outside of that, when our marae got done up prior to that our rates were just over $400. But when the marae got done up, new toilet pans were put in, we are now charged over $1,000 per pan.

In a 3-year period we didn’t know that the rates had increased and then the marae was left with about $25,000 rates bill.

I say that to the Board because I want us to challenge the Council. They are classifying us as motels! We are Marae and we need your help to take the Council on! We need that help and support for all of our marae. If we are going to do up our marae, then marae is going to be punished at the end of it to be rateable just like a motel. Kei te he tera. I would like us to take the council on over rates.

Those were the main points. When we talk about our wai those are some of the things that we are going through on the daily. And we needed to bring the take (issue) somewhere and I needed to bring it to your attention so that we can start

hammer each take (issue). What affects us affects everyone of us around our moana.

Chairman I am sitting here and hearing exactly the reasons that we need to hold these hui, because we need to be held publicly responsible for projects that we start, and we don’t finish. I recall those ones and those ones have passed on and we haven’t finished the job. This is a good reason why we do what we do today to get that feedback today and hold us publicly accountable and then we can put those into place. Thank you Waitahanui.

Response from Member Loughlin Just to follow on for some of that korero, a lot of these things that you are raising are being delt with by Peter and his team. Certainly, the stuff with the effects on Onekeneke and everything else in terms of AC baths want to do more takes.

Most of those things that were raised are being tended to. I would encourage you to see Peter. In terms of the Council, the difference is that we do have a board that is out there in the community as well and we are on top of a lot of these things.

Dominic Bowden My question is about commercial operations on Taupō-nui-a-Tia and how those people pay to be on the lake to operate. I understand that it is 7% revenue across the Board, it doesn’t matter if you are Ngāti Tūwharertoa or not, 7% of your revenue goes to the Board as payment. I want to ask, how can you encourage our people to start up their own operations and possibly make a living off the moana, how can you encourage them to do that.

Chairman This is a strategic issue rather than a commercial issue, when we chased the Government under the 2007 deed that we could implement the charging regime to commercial operators. One of the sticking points was that the Commerce Commission demanded that there be no unfair disadvantage put on our own. The 7% was a figure that we determined bit we not to show any bias to our own. That’s a condition that the

HUI-Ā-TAU – MINUTES

government put on us in respect to charging commercial operators. We have talked about that and how we can work better on our own.

Because it’s not us, it’s a law that has been put on us. We will maintain it and we don’t want to operate outside the law. We don’t want to lose the opportunity that we have to charge all of the other commercial operators because we favoured our whanau.

We have to work out other innovative ways to be able to support those businesses that start on their own, to allow them to take advantage to beat those other pakeha business.

I am suggesting to the Board that we think of innovative ways to lift the capacity of our owners to be able to compete. It’s a strategy issue rather than an operational issue for Rakei to deliver.

Nardia Staples I have travelled up here today with a roopu from Omahu. Thank you to the Board for providing our transport and thank you to Julie Te Ngare for arranging it in 2 days. I wanted to ask, there are quite a few owners, shareholders and beneficiaries that live in the Kahungunu area. A lot more of us would be able to make these hui if there was transport provided and also if there was time for us to prepare and plan. We were only advised on Thursday, if we could have discussion, if we could have a liaison person to cater for us whanau back down in Kahungunu so that a lot more of us could come. There were about 30 of us that travelled up today.

Also, in light of the earthquakes and pending disasters that have been going on in the area.

Can there be a discussion in regard to the Civil Defence points at the marae and educating and equipping our whanau with the necessities and the knowledge to care of themselves when these events happen.

Response - CEO Certainly, our whanau coming from Hawkes Bay are very important to us. The Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust has providing transport for the last 4 years and always will continue to do so. On

the TST list, almost a third are over in the Hawkes Bay. We have looked at that in terms of a TST perspective. In terms of the other issues for emergencies, we have a programme that’s starting up and that’s with Marie Otimi. This will come under Pou Tikanga, Pou Tangata. Similarly with these other events Peter is organising how we communicate with our people. We are committed to our people over in Hawkes Bay. Greg Stebbing This question is for Rakeipoho, the Taupō Moana Group Holdings have been going for five years with two investments. The returns are modest to be kind.

I am wondering though looking forward and now that you have the Licencing in place are their aspirations to grow more businesses or those businesses.

Response – CEO Most definitely Greg, we picked up Jolly’s in 2019.

They have done very well to hold their position.

They are now the leader in the marketplace for all of the boats. In terms of holding its market position they have done very well. Hole in One has been crazy, right through Covid it kept making money. Within the Tourism industry, everyone is waiting for this summer. We have our eyes on a couple more items to develop and extend the Tourism Portfolio Jewel Tahau I want to get an understanding, everything seems to be ticking over nicely, the only negative is about that lift situation on the Maunga. When you talk about Bonds, what are you saying? When you secure the rights to do business, or do you own the equipment? I don’t quite understand the bond thing.

Response – CEO In this case this is a secured bond. What the RAL company wanted when they were purchasing the Gondola was, they wanted us to have a bond a non-secured bond. The idea of it was not to make

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trillions out of it, it was really about supporting the infrastructure of such an entity in terms of employment in the community.

Our lawyer advised that we want our bond to be secured, so if any happened with the company and they want to liquidate or change even their structure they cannot do anything without talking to us and the other six investors who are primarily around the southern end and the farms and forests.

We are in the strongest position than anyone because there would be no ski field without the Gondola that is the poutokomanawa of that activity.

Haromi Pineaha Rowlands You talk about the Maunga being ours and taking it back. My question is, what is the title? Is it customary?

Response – CEO The title goes back to 1887. The title is with the Crown currently and it is not customary.

Paranapa Otimi I have been listening to the korero. One of the major components are the effects on our Taiao and when I look at the connectiveness that we’ve spoken about we have spoken about the geothermal resource, the geothermal fluid which wai. We have talked about some of the issues impacting on our waters as well as moving to complete the resolution of our Treaty of Waitangi claims which include not just the Kahui Maunga and National Park but also te wai, Waikato Iti me ona nei kawai.

I have enjoyed hearing from our families who are on the ground everyday assessing the assessments of the impact of climate change and other things. I make a point about Waitahanui, there should be something on file in respect of the conditions of that to support our whanau from Waitahanui. Because it is stipulated with the agreement with Mighty River Power at the time that at any time the families at Waitahanui wish the groin to be moved then it should.

The other thing I want to make comment on, some of us were at Iwi Leaders and some of us were at the Wai hui prior to that. And I say some of us, my concern is about the information getting back to our people in respect of changes at a central government level, a regional government level and changes at local government level. I await eagerly a report back on those two major hui that have impacts on us. We have yet to be told what the outcomes were of both hui. I stand to raise this because I support the questions that have been put from the floor as well as the responses back from the Board. Hopefully we can come together collectively with our families, with our hapū, with our marae to make those calls on the impacts of legislation, policies, Treaty Settlements, RMA issues that impact on our whenua and our taonga. My question is when we can expect to come together with our families?

Chairman Te Takinga New was invited to close the hui.

12:05 pm the Hui-ā-Tau closed with karakia.

Karakia Whakamutunga:

Te Takinga New

Hui-ā-Tau

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