Iwi members feud over control of $41m payout

By JON STOKES

A year after receiving one of just three formal Crown apologies as part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement, a battle has erupted within a Taranaki iwi for control of its $41 million payout.

Hundreds of Ngati Ruanui iwi members returned to Patea's Pariroa Pa in June last year to hear Minister of Treaty Negotiations Margaret Wilson give an apology and compensation for past wrongs.

But now a bitter feud has erupted between the tribe's leaders over control of the tribe's assets, now worth $38 million, with accusations of financial mismanagement and poor governance flaring.

The Herald understands there are arguments within the Hawera-based iwi, following mediation to avert court action threatened by two directors sacked from the board of the tribe's commercial arm, Ngati Ruanui's Management Group, last month.

The pair, iwi members Spencer Carr and Haimoana Maruera, both signatories of the tribe's treaty settlement, sued the tribe's 16-member board and chairman, Sid Kahu, following their ousting.

The pair claim they were not given the required 21 days' notice that the motion to remove them would be put, and that they were not told why.

Mr Maruera said mediation between the groups' lawyers on Wednesday night confirmed their sacking was illegal. "They did not follow correct process."

The Herald understands that the division and legal action followed months of conflict within the tribes' three-member management board for control of the tribe's assets.

The pair pushed for an independent audit carried out on the tribe's commercial body, the results of which were released last month, three days before they were dumped.

"The audit is damning, that was our call," Mr Maruera said. "We were the two people who pushed for the full audit, and we have become scapegoats because we have continued to question inappropriate spending."

While the results of the audit, released last month, remain confidential, it is understood it highlights poor financial management and governance within the tribe.

The tribe's chief executive, Liz Munroe, resigned after the audit was released. A statement from the board said her decision to resign was amicable. She has since declined to comment but it is understood she was paid out as part of her resignation.

A source in the tribe, who did not want to be named, refused to say how much, but said it was a fraction of what Ms Munroe would have received had she worked out her $130,000 a year three-year contract.

Ms Munroe's resignation follows the sacking of the tribe's chief financial officer, Mike Tolich, this year. It is understood he was paid out for the remaining nine months of his $70,000 one-year contract.

The source said the legal action by Mr Carr and Mr Maruera, which had cost the tribe $70,000, was just disgruntled "old-guard" tribal members refusing to relinquish control.

"If we, as a rununga, were on to it we wouldn't be in this situation. We need to do a few things better."

The source stressed the audit had not highlighted any fraud, and that the removal of the pair had the support of the majority.

"At the meeting 11 people out of 15 made a call. What they [Mr Carr and Mr Maruera] are saying is we didn't give them enough notice and that they were ambushed."

This number is disputed by the pair, who claim it was nine to six with the chairman abstaining.

Ngati Ruanui chairman Sid Kahu said the decision to sack the pair was in the tribe's best interest.

The settlement

* Ngati Ruanui settled with the Crown in May 2001.

* The Taranaki-based iwi received a Crown apology and a combination of cash and Crown-owned land up to a value of $41 million in 2003.

* The claim includes a 50-year first right of refusal, at market value, to surplus Crown-owned properties in their region.

* Ngati Ruanui (including Pakakohi and Tangahoe) is made up of 16 hapu (sub-tribes).