Judge confirms trustees' roles

Des Mahoney can be "terse, irascible and even rude, but the points he makes generally have some merit".

The Ngakahu Ahu Whenua Whenua Trust, which has led recent moves to develop Far North land in multiple Maori ownership, has come through a Maori Land Court review with owner-appointed trustees confirmed.

A decision last week by Judge David Ambler on the review at Kaitaia on June 8 appointed seven trustees who the owners of the 159ha Ngakahu block near Kaitaia had elected under court supervision at the trust's first annual meeting in April.

The new trustees are: Richard Hadfield, Des Mahoney, Judy Baker, Raiha Mann, Te Uri Reihana-Ngatote, Desley Austen and Tania Morunga.

The review was directed by the Maori Appellate Court in July last year when it dismissed an appeal against Judge Ambler's decision on March 9, 2015, to constitute the trust, appoint four interim responsible trustees and name the block's former interim management committee - Mr Mahoney, Mr Reihana-Ngatote and Hone Peters - as interim advisory trustees.

The review was ordered because of issues raised during the appeal hearing about the refusal or inability of the interim responsible trustees to work with one of their number, Kristine Te Paa.

The responsible trustees never met.

Meetings were arranged and then cancelled.

Ms Te Paa, who lives in Australia, sought to have the trust provide travel costs but the responsible trustees could not agree on that point and at least one of them objected to Ms Te Paa attending meetings by electronic means.

As a result the advisory trustees assumed responsibility for the trust, carrying out more fencing, gorse eradication and liaising with the Far North District Council over rates.

Judge Ambler said that Ms Te Paa had concerns about the trust's governance processes.

She complained that Mr Mahoney had sent her emails attacking her ability as a trustee, her father Nicholas Te Paa and their family trust.

The judge reviewed the emails and found some "terse and blunt".

"Mr Mahoney can be terse, irascible and even rude," Judge Ambler said.

"I can see he could offend people. But the points he makes generally have some merit."

The judge concluded the advisory trustees appeared to have done a good job and he did not consider any sanction or relief was needed regarding Ms Te Paa's complaint.

The review dealt with the trust's lease and rates payment exclusion for a block of land solely owned by the Te Paa family trust because the land was not producing income.

The judge suggested options to help resolve the situation.

Ms Te Paa objected to the appointment of Mr Mahoney, Mr Reihana-Ngatote and Judy Baker as trustees, but Judge Ambler said the owners clearly supported their appointment.

"Mr Mahoney and Mr Reihana-Ngatote, together with Hone Peters, have been pivotal in the progress of the land. They took the lead when the responsible trustees failed," the judge said.

While the reasons for owners not supporting Ms Te Paa's bid for election as a trustee were not fully known, Judge Ambler said the evidence before him suggested her location in Australia, her failure to attend the trust's annual meeting in April, lack of rapport with her fellow owners and an allegation that her father had received payment for grazing the land before the trust was formed (which he did not deny in court) had influenced the owners' voting.

The judge concluded the review by appointing the seven trustees elected at the annual meeting, removing the interim advisory trustees and varying the trust order to show the financial position of each of the 10 blocks of land under whanau trust control.