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Ngati Porou have voted after an 18 month process to change the TRONPnui Trust Deed and improve governance operations.
The four new amendments will see the removal of requirements for Elected Representatives being less than 40 per cent of members on a subsidiary board and the removal of requirements for subsidiaries.
Both special resolutions have exception clauses as required by the Maori Fisheries Act 2004.
A motion to remove the Noho Kaenga distinctions and provisions in the Trust Deed was lost and the Trust Deed will continue to be reviewed every five years.
The final step of the review process was held on Sunday (June 24 2018) at the TRONPnui Special General Meeting in Gisborne.
TRONPnui Chief Executive Herewini Te Koha said the trust deed review process was a legal requirement.
After the first five years of “test driving” the newly established post-settlement entity, the review provided Ngati Porou with an opportunity to consider whether the Deed and TRONPnui structure was working as intended, he said.
Mr Te Koha says the way forward in terms of the TRONPnui Trust Deed is a “pretty straight forward one”.
Now that the Ngati Porou voters have ratified these changes and made their position clear on the noho kaenga, it really is a matter of amending the Trust Deed by our legal council.
Mr Te Koha says these amendments will be posted on the TRONPnui website along with promotions about the old Trust Deed no longer being current and that there will soon be a new one.
“We will set a timetable to have the new deed available online and in our Runanga offices within the next couple of weeks as soon as the final vote is confirmed.
Mr Te Koha said the process was not a cheap one.
“It’s an exercise that required a proper budget, to carry out two rounds of consultation with taurahere (Ngati Porou who live away) and those who live at home.
“To have an independent reviewer and then have an independent returning officer to make sure the voting was true and proper. These things don’t come cheap.”
Mr Te Koha says $100k was invested to improve the operation of the trust, accountability to the members and the overall performance of the group.
TRONPnui trustee Na Raihania acknowledged the work of former board member, Heni Tawhiwhirangi before she passed away last year.
“She was very strong about the democratic voice and letting whanau have their say irrespective of who they were or where they were.
“The Trust Deed Review was something she was very passionate about, her main objectives was to maintain the democratic voice,” said Mr Raihania.
TRONPnui chairman Selwyn Parata said he was confident the Runanganui had done its best to engage Ngati Porou far and wide.
TRONPnui held face-to-face hui, ran a digital and media campaign to promote the kaupapa and engaged through Facebook, the internet and live-streamed hui so Ngati Porou living all over the world could engage, said Mr Parata.
“It was important to reach out to Ngati Porou where ever they lived and capture feedback about what was working and what wasn’t working.
“We tried really hard to open those doors and get people engaged and given the level of people that engaged throughout the process and have come here (SGM) today, I'm really pleased,” said Mr Parata.
The voting process involved Ngati Porou registered adult iwi members voting online, by post and postal ballot box at Sunday's Special General Meeting.
More than 100 adult members attended the SGM which provided the required quorum of 100 registered adult members for a Special General Meeting to be valid.
The voting process was managed independently by Anthony Morton from Electionz.com.
Isaiah Roberts from Electionz.com provided the required independent oversight for the voting process on Sunday and the formal announcement of the provisional results, which have since been confirmed as all postal votes have now been received and counted as at close of business Monday June 25.
To view the official results click here
