12. Hon TAU HENARE (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Maori Affairs
Is the Māori Trustee’s general purposes fund made up of income generated from beneficiary money?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Māori Affairs) Link to this
The general purposes fund is made up of money from the business activities of the Māori Trustee. The sources of funding for the general purposes fund are fees and commissions, returns on investments, and the interest differential between what is earned on common fund investments and what can be legally paid to beneficial owners of those investments.
If the Minister is correct, how can Labour purloin $35 million generated by beneficiaries’ assets and, rather than giving that income back to the beneficiaries who generated it, try to use that money to set up an election year slush fund?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
As I told the member the other day, the general purposes fund and other funds for Māori development present a significant opportunity if they are pooled and work together. The Māori Trustee will be sitting across the top of this money and other contributions, as chairperson of the new entity. Those selected for the board will be selected in consultation with iwi leaders and other Māori organisations around the country.
Louisa WallHon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
It will be used to progress Māori development, both in enterprise and land-based activities. It will certainly give Māori the opportunity that banks in this country do not give them because of the tenure construct of Māori land.
Pita ParaoneTēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Is the goal of a new fund, to be taken from the Māori Trustee’s general purposes fund, to foster real self-sufficiency and development among Māori-owned businesses and landowners, or is it just more micro-management that will keep Māori dependent on Government support?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
Tēnā koe. The fund will be contributed to from a range of sources, including the Crown. The intent of the fund is to support the economic aspirations of Māori. The one thing about Māori and their economic aspirations is that they will never leave this country. They will prop up the great work that Michael and Helen have done. The entity will be independent of the Crown and will also be accountable to Māori for its performance.
Can the Minister confirm the statement on page 7 of the Māori Trustee’s annual report that says it is necessary that the Māori Trustee is independent from the Crown so that the trustee is not influenced by political factors that may not be in the interests of the clients; if so, how could the Minister state in this House last week that the appointees to the Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand entity would be made up of Māori who support Labour?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
As usual, that member is twisting things. I have never said “support Labour”. What I said was “support Māori”. I make it quite clear that in the duties of the Māori Trustee there are other activities that the Crown has to pay for—it purchases off the Māori Trustee, and there is agreement. Those are the people whom the Crown cannot find—those people who have unclaimed dividends—and how does one get that out? That has clearly been a practice for a long time, even when that member was the Minister of Māori Affairs.
Is it not the case that if the Government has a vested interest in appropriating income generated from unpaid beneficiary money for its proposed new business development fund, Labour will have no interest in tracking down the beneficiaries and paying them their due, because that will reduce the amount of money it can appropriate for its “Fox Fighting Fund”, in a desperate effort to help the Minister to keep his seat?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
The one thing about this Minister is that he has his seat, unlike that member, and he will continue to carry on—let me be very clear about that. The one thing about this business is that one cannot differentiate between one’s cousins and one’s whānau, as Tini Fox is one of mine. Let me tell that member again—and he should listen carefully—that the general purposes fund is made up of money from the business activities of the Māori Trustee. The sources of funding for the general purposes fund are fees and commissions, returns on investments, and the interest differential between what is earned from the common fund investments and what can be legally paid to beneficial owners of those investments.
Is it not true that under the Māori Trustee and Māori Development Amendment Bill, rather than protect the interests of Māori beneficiaries, Labour is going to take money from the Māori Trustee, take money from the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, take money from the Poutama Māori Business Trust, and give it to a group of his own personal appointees to spend on people who are not beneficiaries of the Māori Trustee, in a vain attempt to help him keep his seat?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
Several decisions are made, and, certainly, that member remembers how we developed the Māori Education Trust Board, and other organisations. I wish that that member would not get so upset about me wanting to retain my seat, because that is what I will do.
Has the Minister been contacted by the Federation of Māori Authorities, and is it not true that it has said to the Minister that it is opposed to the Minister purloining $35 million out of the Māori Trustee to set up this slush fund?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
There are always ongoing discussions with the Federation of Māori Authorities, and other Māori organisations, and the majority are in support of this development. Members of his party might be telling him otherwise, but I tell him that Māori have a lot of support for this development.
Is it not the case that this rort is nothing more than a reserve fund for the Minister of Māori Affairs, and that it should be renamed the “Fox Fighting Fund”, because that Minister and his other mates in the Labour Party are scared of losing their seats to the Māori Party in the next election?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
It is a real pleasure to still have my seat, unlike that member. I ask him what his policy is. What would he like to do with Māori, because there was not too much transparency when National was sitting on the Government benches? I ask him what his policy is, because he has nothing. Māori will be excited and encouraged by this great development—members can mark my words.
Madam SPEAKER