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Saturday 1 June 2013

How many more?


Another head has rolled at Te Runanga o Ngati Awa.
After more than 27 years Jim Davies has ended his tenure with the Ngati Awa Farm committee following a request for him to resign.

Te Runanga o Ngati Awa (TRONA) chief executive Enid Ratahi-Pryor requested Mr Davies resign in a letter dated May 22.
“I am writing to advise you that the board of Ngati Awa Group Holdings Ltd (NAGHL), in its capacity as shareholder of Ngati Awa Farms Limited, has passed a resolution to remove you as a director of Ngati Awa Farms Ltd…

“I have been asked to seek your resignation as a director of Ngati Awa Farms (Rangitaiki) Ltd and as a member of the Board of the NGati Awa Farms (RangiTaiki) Joint venture. It would be much appreciated if you could let me have those resignations by return.”
When asked whether Mr Davies was forced to resign from his post, Mrs Ratahi-Pryor replied: “A resignation is exactly that a resignation.”

She refused to answer why Mr Davies had been asked to resign. However Mr Davies said the request was made following a phone conversation in which he was scolded for his role in a story that had appeared in the Whakatane Beacon.
Mr Davies had provided the Beacon with a copy of an internal document that was written by Mrs Ratahi-Pryor for the NAGHL chairman, Wira Gardiner.

The document outlined an option in the Companies act that would allow NAGHL to request that CO2 New Zealand Management Company to demonstrate fair value for a $3.8 million contract.

“Under that section if a company enters a transaction in which a director is interested, the transaction may be avoided at any time before the expiration of three months after the transaction is disclosed to all the shareholders.”
The document when on to outline the conflict of intereste issue involving NAGHL board member Graham Pryor where he was also a director of CO2 New Zealand Management Company at the time that the deal was instigated.

“Consequently, if Graham Pryor was an interested director at the time and the transaction has not yet been disclosed to the Runanga as the shareholder in (NAGHL), it may be possible to avoid the transaction unless CO2 New Zealand can establish that the company has received fair value,” Mrs Ratahi-Pryor said in the document.
Despite the price of carbon credits dropping from $27 to less than $3, the option was not taken up by NAGHL.

Mr Davies said he felt compelled to make a public stand because of the responsibility he felt to the iwi.
He outlined his concerns in a report that he had hoped to give at the next farm committee meeting to be held on June 4.

In it Mr Davies says the farm committee concerns were taken to a NAGHL meeting on August 16, 2012, however the report was ruled out of order by Mr Gardiner.
The report was then emailed to TRONA chairman Te Kei Merito, who acknowledged receipt of it a week later and gave an assurance it would go back to NAGHL. Mr Davies was set to give his report next week.

However Mr Davies handed in his resignation last week.
“After 27 enjoyable, interesting and rewarding years at Ngati Awa farm, I formally hand in my resignation from the boards of Ngati Awa, Ngakauroa and Tumurau farms as requested," he wrote.

“No doubt this action may take care of some of your immediate problems. However the questions on truth, transparency and accountability in the CO2 Ngati Awa still remain unanswered.”
Now this raises the question of: why was Mr Davies forced to stand down and yet Mr Pryor is still a director on NAGHL and the chairman of the investments committee?

11 comments:

  1. I think it's about time we, as Ngatiawa, start requesting resignations ourselves.

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    1. Yes, the rot has certainly set in. . . . . !

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  2. I agree too. But it's all up to the hapu reps. C'mon whanau, let's support our reps so they find the courage to do what is needed to stop this terrible behaviour. I can see why they may be scared to challenge Wira & Enid because they are Bullys as shown in this post above. If you challenge them, they bully yu into resigning or find some other way to get you off .

    BUT if we stand with our reps and let them know that we back them 100% then I am sure they will find the courage.

    And if they don't, we need to vote them all off come October. Its really as simple as that

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  3. Kia ora, my name is Donna Semmens of Ngati Rangitihi/ Te Arawa. No Matata ahau.

    My whakapapa to Ngati Awa are maternal and am of the Hudson/Merito whanau.

    Ko Ngati Hokopu ki Wairaka toku hapu. Kia ora.

    I am writing to thank Karla Akuhata for her persistence and passion for Iwi accountablity and transparency shown throughout all these panui in particularly involving bad investments.

    At Matata, starting in 2008 , my Ngati Rangitihi whanau whanui were dragged through so many consultation hui in regards to the impending Cenral North Island Tree Lords Deal offered by the Crown and negotiated by Iwi hierarchy hired by the Crown themselves.

    The Ngati Rangitihi negotiators for Ngati Rangitihi were Graham and Henry Pryor.


    This was all happening without our knowledge right up until the CNI Iwi Post Settlement Governance Entities had to be formed to receive what Putea had been allocated to each Iwi.

    Our trust soon to be called TE MANA O NGATI RANGITIHI, was the end result with Graham Pryor ending up as our director, board trustee, chairman , investment committee advisor and mana whenua member.

    That is a story in itself, as I can still feel the mamae our whanau whanui were subjected to, as it caused alot of fighting between our Whanau and Hapu. It was a very rushed and vague process with minimal information, but plenty of enthusiastic presentations showing huge opportunities of get rich investments into the likes of Tukia Group and Co2 New Zealand Ltd.

    Te Mana O Ngati Rangitihi's representative as a director on CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd, Tukia Group Ltd, Tukia Carbon Management Company Ltd and Co2 NZ Management Company Ltd is Graham Pryor.

    Graham Pryor ceased to be a director on the Co2 NZ Management Company Ltd as Karla has stated in previous Panui on August last year. In his place TMONR have appointed Harina Warbrick, a fellow TMONR Board Trustee, TMONR investment committee member and current chief executive.

    TMONR invested in 2010 a 550,000 advance into Tukia Group Ltd. More advances to TGL followed over the next two years totally 150,000 from our trust. As our settlement putea totalled 9,000,000 of which was accepted by Henry and Graham Pryor, you will understand why their was a huge outcry from my whanaunga at the annual general meeting last year when all 700,000 plus was impaired/ written off by their auditors and deemed as unrecoverable.

    Ngati Rangitihi are currently trying to work out what is actually going on within our Trust, as we we have never been consulted by TMONR in regards to impending court cases that could cost our Iwi one and a half million dollars plus if legal cost are rewarded to EBET. We are having to read the Whakatane Beacon to obtain information with what TMONR have been or currently doing sopposedly for :

    Kia tū ora ai a Ngāti Rangitihi i runga i tōna ake rangatiraranga mō ake tonu atu - To enable Ngāti Rangitihi to flourish in perpetuity supported by their unique self-determining capabilities. May I leave you with abit of humour, that's the Merito in me....in regards to the above statement ...sounds like the old Tui advertisement ...YEAH RIGHT !!!








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  4. I do not believe anything will be resolved here becos it is too whanau (mini Mafia) involved. I wish u honest people, like Mr Davies well.

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  5. Hmmmmm I see our iwi was made to look stupid again in the Beacon. Not good. Something/s is definitely rotten in there.

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  6. Did I hear right? There has been another casualty and loss of a valuable and honest member from the NA Farm Committee?

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  7. Read the above and Whakatane Beacon 11/6 and believe wot u r reading. Do not believe what is quoted by Enid Blyton !

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  8. Oh my gosh this is terrible what is going on in our iwi we trust the selected people to represent us and do what is best for our hapu/iwi you are responsible for millions of $(putea).

    Times are becoming difficult for many of our whanau out there I say wake up use wisdom over power, tight budgeting over risky investments, positive communication over arguing and work together as a team its plain and simple.

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