Awatere Huata turns down $60,000 offer

Disgraced former Act MP Donna Awatere Huata has turned down an offer of $60,000 from the charitable foundation she was convicted of defrauding.

One of the trustees who voted to make the offer was Huia Huata, Donna Awatere Huata's sister-in-law.

This week Awatere Huata and her husband, Wi Huata, appealed against convictions which stemmed from the misuse of funds from the Pipi Foundation charitable trust. The Court of Appeal reserved its decision.

At a meeting on September 28, the trust approved an offer of $60,000 to Awatere Huata "as payment for her input and expertise in improving and enhancing the so-called four-minute reading programme kindly settled by way of gift from her upon this organisation".

A document supplied by trust lawyer David Porteous said the meeting was properly constituted and the decision was unanimous.

Trust chairman Des Ratima confirmed that Ms Huata had been at the meeting and had voted to offer the payment to her sister-in-law.

"She was there through the meeting. She did make some small contribution but she thought it was best that the discussions were with the rest of us, Solly, Jack and myself," Mr Ratima said. "She had a vote as a trustee and she used that."

Huia Huata could not be contacted yesterday.

Mr Ratima said it was Awatere Huata's call to reject the trust's offer, just as it was the call of the trust to make the offer.

"I am surprised at the amount of interest in what we've done. It's an issue of timing. By checking through the minutes and talking to previous trustees, there was talk about payment to her earlier but it didn't actually happen. I just felt in the short time I've been the chairman ... that we needed to put some conclusion to that whole scenario.

"The timing is wrong. If we had given this up before the court charges, then nobody would have thought anything of it."

One trustee - Charlie Hamlin - was not at the meeting and yesterday told National Radio he was surprised the trust had offered the payment to Awatere Huata.

"It's been a sort of Mickey Mouse meeting ever since I've been with the foundation. You didn't know what was going on, and there's always something missing. I just got pretty sick of it."

Mr Hamlin said he was willing to stay on the foundation and wanted to help Awatere Huata - whom he called an "honest lady" - but was surprised the trust would offer her money when it owed money to Inland Revenue.

Awatere Huata's lawyer, Jeremy Bioletti, said his client appreciated the trust's offer but had turned it down.

He said Awatere Huata could have sold her reading programme overseas.

"She didn't, she gave it away, she's just not interested in the money aspect of it. She appreciates the offer they've made and the support they've given, but she wouldn't want to take the money from them."

Wi Huata told Radio Live the couple felt the money would be better spent on literacy initiatives.

Mr Ratima said Mr Hamlin had told him he had a doctor's appointment and whatever his fellow trustees decided was fine with him. He had intended to tell Mr Hamlin of the outcome but numerous factors, including a funeral, had prevented him getting in touch.

The trust - which no longer receives taxpayer money - was carrying on because parents and schools wanted it to continue its work, Mr Ratima said.

The trust did owe money to Inland Revenue and had been negotiating about how to service that debt, he said. "We acknowledge that, and we are working with IRD in that regard."