Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere owns one property.
Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere owns one property.
Tangi Utikere is the MP whose successful private member’s bill now shines a spotlight on local government elected members’ financial interests.
The MP for Palmerston North’s own pecuniary interests are few.
He jointly owns a family home in Palmerston North and has shares in Air New Zealand, Advanced Micro Devices and Tesla.
Unlike local government politicians, the MPs’ public summary includes any retirement schemes and managed investment schemes they are in. Utikere is in two and four respectively.
The information is contained in the public summary of the Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of MPs, for the annual returns as of January 31, 2023.
Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie’s summary of pecuniary interests is more extensive. He is a director of farming company Pukemarama Farm and property company Dunchurch Enterprises.
McKelvie, who is retiring at October’s general election, is a trustee and beneficiary of Pukemarama No 1 Trust and Pukemarama No 2 Trust. He is a trustee of a further four trusts.
McKelvie jointly owns a family home at Whareroa, near Taupō, Manawatū farmland owned by various entities, commercial property in Palmerston North and a Wellington apartment owned by a trust.
He is a member of one retirement scheme.
Unlike their local government counterparts, the public summary of MPs’ pecuniary interests also lists debts owed by and to them.
McKelvie has two personal loans to Pukemarama Farm and Pukemarama Trust No 1 owed to him on demand.
Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe has interests, such as shares and bonds, in seven companies including The a2 Milk Company, Fletcher Building and Manawa Energy.
He is a trustee and beneficiary of Waipu Trust and a beneficiary of Rakaia Incorporation.
He jointly owns a family home in Whangaehu, near Whanganui, and has interests in 40 Māori land blocks in various locations and interests in the Waipū general land block at Rātana Pā.
Rurawhe is a member of two retirement schemes and one managed investment scheme.
Clockwise from left are Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, Green List MP Teanau Tuiono, Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe and Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie.
Utikere, McKelvie and Rurawhe are all MPs for electorates in the Manawatū Guardian circulation area while Tuiono lives in the area.
Rurawhe is also the Speaker of the House. He will not contest Te Tai Hauāuru at the election and will instead just be on the Labour list.
Unlike the public summaries for Palmerston North City Council, Manawatū District Council and Horizons Regional Council’s elected members, the MPs’ register is signed by the registrar. Sir Maarten Wevers is the registrar of MPs’ pecuniary interests.
He states the summary is a fair and accurate description of the information contained in MPs’ returns.
The public summary of the returns fulfils the register’s purpose of providing transparency about members’ interests in order to “strengthen public trust and confidence in parliamentary processes and decision-making”.
