Aotearoa Fisheries lures big names

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN

Business Roundtable chairman Rob McLeod and prominent businessman Craig Norgate are among key directors on the new umbrella company which will manage half of Maoridom's fisheries assets.

The Aotearoa Fisheries Board - which is expected to be confirmed this week - has been established after legislation passed last month transferring $750 million of fisheries assets to Maori.

Aotearoa Fisheries has an interest in about one-third of New Zealand's commercial fishing industry and is worth about $350 million.

Iwi shareholders will receive dividends and the company is expected to transform itself into a listed vehicle within about five years.

The other half of the Maori fisheries assets were allocated directly to iwi.

In another appointment, Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Shane Jones is expected to be confirmed as chairman of Te Ohu Moana Trustee, the governance body to oversee all Maori fishing assets.

But he will stand down if he secures a nomination on Labour's list for next year's election.

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia is to announce the appointments before November 30.

The other trustees are expected to be drawn from the existing 13 commissioners.

Among the likely contenders for the remaining six places are Rob McLeod - to ensure continuity between the two organisations - Wira Gardiner, Rangimarie Parata and Dame Georgina Kirby, who were last month appointed commissioners, and Naida Glavish, a longstanding commissioner and deputy chairwoman of the Waipareira Trust, who provides a link with urban Maori.

The Aotearoa Fisheries lineup is:

* Rob McLeod, chairman, who stepped down as chairman of Ernst & Young to devote himself to fulltime governance roles. He is of Ngati Porou descent.

* Craig Norgate, Wrightson deputy chairman and a former Fonterra chief executive, who began his career as an accountant in the Maori Affairs Department.

* Craig Ellison, deputy chairman of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and an experienced company director. He is from Kai Tahu.

* Keith Sutton, a Wellington corporate strategic and financial adviser.

* Mark Mahuika, who has worked with the commission and is a son of Ngati Porou chairman Apirana Mahuika.