Once again I am a little bit late with this post but I
wanted to take my time so that my approach is measured and considered.
As you are aware I was meant to talk about the Ngati Hokopu
hapu meeting after it was announced that the chief executive of Te Runanga o
Ngati Awa (TRONA) would attend and answer questions.
Enid Ratahi-Pryor had said she would like to attend the
meeting to “decipher” and “demystify” information coming out of the runanga.
However because it was the first meeting of the year it was felt there was too much business to get through so Ngati Hokopu requested Mrs
Ratahi-Pryor attend another meeting at a later date.
That meeting is to be held at Wairaka Marae on March 6 at
6pm.
Therefore this week’s post will not be about what was discussed
at the Ngati Hokopu hapu meeting; rather I would like to take some time to talk
about the TRONA board meeting held at Te Manuka Tutahi last week.
It is the first board meeting that I have attended and I
left feeling even more despondent.
I have a number of concerns but today I will highlight one
area and that is: Ngati Awa’s financial arm will not be able to give the full
annual grant to the runanga this year after heavy losses by its carbon credit
investment.
Every year Ngati Awa Group Holdings (NAGHL) gives TRONA $1.5 million to fund the tribal operations.
However the group’s accountant, Murray Haines, told the
TRONA board that NAGHL would only be able to give $400,000 from operating cash
flows this year.
“An estimated $1.1m of the obligation funding will need to
come from reserves due to the Carbon impact.”
Mr Haines said the tribe’s investment in carbon credits had
recorded a year-to-date loss of $809,000.
“It is expected that the total for this financial year will
be $1.9m. In the review by PriceWaterhouseCoopers it was concluded that an
inflation adjusted carbon price of $25 per term was required. The current price
is $2.35.”
The investment has already cost the tribe $2.2m in
previous years and now the Runanga is considering whether to write the asset
off.
“Writing off 100 per cent is the worst-case scenario. When I
say write off it means that instead of keeping it as an asset we make it a
cost,” Mr Haines said.
The report also highlighted that a net loss of $939,000 is being
predicted with an expectation that the return on investments of 1.2 per cent
instead of the budgeted 3.5 per cent.
On a positive note Mr Haines was able to say that an
agreement with GoNet had been reached where the internet service provider would
pay for the shares acquired from the tribe.
Mr Haines had claimed at last year’s AGM that the tribe had
sold the shares for nothing but last week he outlined a plan for GoNet
directors to pay $300,000 for the shares. The first instalment is due in April.In addition Mrs Ratahi-Pryor had declared earlier in the meeting that the organisation had achieved a cash-neutral position. In other words the amount of money coming into the organisation was the same as what would be going out for this year.
The board gave Mrs Ratahi-Pryor a round of applause when she
announced the achievement however only one member raised concerns about having
to take money from the reserves to fund the runanga’s operations when it was
outlined by Mr Haines.
When Mr Haines started his financial report four members left the table but as he went along hapu representative Regina O’Brien made it clear that she
disapproved of having to take money from the tribe’s reserves.
She said she was deeply concerned that TRONA would have to
use money from the reserves for operations.
Her point was noted but board chairman Te Kei Merito decided
to move the meeting on and the situation wasn't discussed any further.
Meanwhile during the meeting Mrs Ratahi-Pryor said a
reporter from the New Zealand Herald had obtained a copy of an audit report
that had been commissioned from the international accounting firm,
PriceWaterhouseCoopers .
Mrs Ratahi-Pryor suggested the board pass a motion to
embargo the meeting report until the next hui. The board voted and passed a resolution
for all of those in the public gallery
to hand the meeting report back before they left.
During Mr Haines presentation Mrs Ratahi-Pryor approached me and
asked me to return the report immediately. There were four other people in the
public gallery but I was the only person approached.
I declined and said I would return the report before I left
the meeting.
The move to restrict information deeply concerns me. As an
uri of Ngati Awa I believe it is my right to receive information about the
runanga and its subsidiaries.
Add to that there is no legal requirement of embargo. It is
a request not to publish the information before a certain date, that is all,
and in this case the date is two months away at the board next meeting on April
26.
After much consideration I have obviously decided to ignore
the request not to publish information from the report and have chosen to share
it with you.
My reasons are simple.
In the past three years the runanga have lost $5.2m in
failed investments and from what I can tell from attending the board meeting is
that we stand to potentially write-off another asset. In addition we are also
losing money despite the chief executive’s assertion that the runanga is
cash-neutral.
And even though it maybe the hapu representatives’
responsibilities to report back to the people this is too important to leave up
to chance that you might attend your own hapu meeting and then hear a fair
report of the goings-on at the runanga. The internet has the ability to reach
so many more people and I am determined to share whatever information I find
out.
What you choose to do with that information is up to you.
