WHY MAORI NEED TO WAKE UP ON THIS TRUST

With funding by CFRT the Crown Forestry Rental Trust and Te Puni Kokiri and not forgetting Fisheries money the MTA has a reason to get a mandate to run every claim including Wai 108. They own and have included ALL new names in their Wai 52 whose original claimants have all passed on. Those now running this claim have in the most part never been involved in Maori affairs in the tribe running back over 30 years with many having indirect whakapapa not direct to Rangatira.

CFRT is run by elected Trustees: [ See whose on the Trust ]

• Governed by a Board of Trustees, with 6 appointed Trustees.
• Managed by a Senior Management Team, led by the Chief Executive.
• Employs over 30 staff, with specialists in such disciplines as historical research and programme facilitation.
• Based in Wellington with regional offices in Whangarei and Rotorua.

CFRT FUNDING LETTER WRITTEN TO MCC CLUSTER GROUP 2012

Nga Kaitiaki Reti Ngahere Karauna
CROWN FORESTRY RENTAL TRUST
25 July 2012
Linda Thornton
Associate
Kathy Ertel & Co.
26 Bidwill Street
Mt Cook
WELLINGTON 6021
Ten5 koe e Linda,
Re: Wai 2200 — Muaupoko Claimant Cluster
Thank you for your letters of 11, 15 and 22 July 2011 to Darrin Sykes, Chief Executive of the
Crown Forestry Rental Trust (the Trust) regarding issues around the representation of Muaupoko
Treaty claimants and Trust funding. I am responding on Mr Sykes' behalf as Acting Director
Service Delivery with overall responsibility for Trust funding nationally.
Approved Client Status
You are advised that your assessment of the working relationship between the Trust and
Muaupoko Tribal Authority (MTA) is based on inaccurate assumptions and information. You are
further advised that it would be unwise for you or your clients to promote those views as fact in any
forum.
The Trust will not disclose the nature and extent of our contractual relationship with MTA except to
confirm that MTA is an approved client of the Trust for the purposes of seeking a mandate to
represent Muaupoko in settlement negotiations. If you would like any detail in that regard then
please correspond directly with MTA.
In order to provide you with clarity, the Trust requires all entities seeking funding for Waitangi
Tribunal hearings or settlement negotiations to be Approved Clients. This can only be achieved by
the groups submitting themselves to undertake the Trust's Eligibility and Capability process.
Claimant groups seeking funding to support a Tribunal hearing process must represent a cluster of
claimants in the Tribunal inquiry district; claimant groups seeking funding to support settlement
negotiations activities must possess a Crown-recognised mandate or have a comprehensive,
realistic and achievable plan for carrying out the mandating process that is supported by the
Crown. It is important that applicants for funding in either process demonstrate that they represent
a claim which involves, or could involve, Crown Forest Licensed land.
An important factor in the Trust's decision to provide funding to any group is Crown support and
engagement. It is possible that both parties may amend their approach including activities and
timeframes. Until the Trust is formally notified by one or both parties that they have withdrawn
from that process then the status quo remains.
CROWN FORESTRY RENTAL TRUST
I Level 7, 135 Victoria Street, Wellington I PO Box 2219, Wellington 6011, New
Zealand
1: +60 6 915 1500 F: +64 4 916 7806 Freephone: 0800 CFRT CFRT or 0800 2378 2378 I E: contact@art.org.nz I www.cfrt.org.nz
Funding for MuaCipoko claimants
You outline the position of your clients that the Muaupoko Claimant Cluster (MCC) should be
funded to take MuaCipoko claims through the Tribunal process and that you believe that they are in
a position to begin operating with the Trust to progress an application to become an Approved
Client.
The Trust will fund whatever course of action a claimant group decides upon, but it will not fund a
group to litigate that claim in the Waitangi process while the Crown is actively involved in direct
negotiations at the same time.
Finally you are advised the Trust has full confidence in Daniel Phillips and his team to deliver
professional services to the claimant community in manner that is consistent and within its policy
framework.
Internal issues involving Iwi groups are largely matter for them to address and not for this Trust to
involve itself with.
Naku noa, na
Jason Ake
Acting Director Service Delivery
cc Muaupoko Tribal Authority
Waitangi Tribunal
Office of Treaty Settlements

The Government has ignored tikanga the most important aspect for Maori. To brush this aside the politicians who allow the MTA a mandate on a flawed AGM etc and false media exposure plus Te Puni Kokiri's irresponsible draft is totally wrong so this website will portray just why there is a problem that needs to be solved. Remember too the Kaunihera Kaumatua Council never holds meetings in the Horowhenua so kaumatua are not even advised or asked to offer advice from those who have knowledge.

HOW EASY IS IT TO LOSE EVERYTHING:

However, an iwi or tribe in NZ can lose all the money they receive from the Government of NZ is easy to fathom. Bad investments, inexperienced Trustees, lack of vision, self help rather than for our younger generations & most of all traditional tikanga is bypassed. Wai Claims allow urban authorities and those with indirect whakapapa or geneology to start dictating and form trusts to receive such monies from the Government starting off to facilitate social services as they were in first. The Government of course wants to wash their hands of these cases so they quickly aim to have direct negotiations with authorities who have no experience apart from being able to manipulate their followers by a numbers game as we saw in Ngati Tama -- the same as why the MLC Maori Land Court will not intervene and allow voters establish their own trustees with trustees that are owners & not non owners. For this reason it has never worked in the Horowhenua and does not work when you look at the track record of trusts in the Horowhenua and what they have actually accomplished?

Once whoever has a mandate its hard to reverse so the NZ Govt needs to get this house in order first as with CFRT. There are those who can conduct social services but their is a small band that can only conduct business concepts perhaps with experienced outside help as well. Its always been the same with Maori tribes and always wil be. Some in the family structure receive all the jobs and those smaller entities of families miss out as their voice is never heard not forgetting the quieter ones who say nothing yet perhaps can contribute if only they were asked. But its not just in NZ. Its tribal and where it is tribal its the norm world wide where the fittest win, & the not so fit lose with not many rules in the game eg. Uganda, Rawanda, Soloman Islands, South Africa, even Afghanistan etc.

But those who run these Trusts have never experienced having funds to play with and as with Ngati Tama it was a loose closed shop to do as they pleased. With Muapoko its no different when you try to find out exactly what this lot has done for themselves in business or not achieved. Not one of the promoters has ever invested their own funds at risk yet now want to go direct negotiations with the Crown behind closed doors to receive whatever the Crown will give them as a fair deal. They forgot aboutn Landbanks & they even were told by the CEO to take one of the houses off the Kimberly Hospital l;andbank? So much for the tribe. They will receive what they feel is an adequate settlement for all but as one will see it will never filter down. The scary part is if one has never invested own funds at risk or even had the ability to save via business sums over $100k then how can one trust where these funds will go eventually--we all know the answer to this as we can see what other tribes have had to endue. What is a good investment and how this settlement will be based, on what calculations & will land returns be in $$$ amounts as fair is a vexed question? If the MTA have no research conducted to date can they even think of going for a Crown Settlement without input from those who know more and have the historical facts on hand?

Remember Noone else is allowed just representatives in the group they choose and this is where the fault lies. But in saying that they have not even bothered to seek Claimants views.The Crown does not care as they want this all over and they do not care about the children and whanau who will gain nothing--that being the majority of the Maoris in the group tribe under the claim territory. Have a look at their financials and tell us what they have achieved over the last 3 years & you will find just about nothing.

The lawyers of course charge what they like and the Justice system does not even vet what is paid to these lawyers nor the applicants whose claims they are on the back with know. The claimants are not told until after the Legal Aid is paid to the lawyer then a simple letter is sent to the Claimant to say the Justice Dept Legal Aid have OK'd the payment to such and such for the hours of work they have claimed for---& its in the 10s of 1000s as some of the commercial Law firms charge I have heard $400NZ an hour---not bad for writing a few letters & attending meetings with a motel etc thrown in. As for the claimants they get nothing.

But they--the Legal Aid Dept do ask the applicants if they have a problem with the payment after saying they have already paid the lawyers?? now is this crazy--no it can't be as its the NZ Justice System policy. In business one must send in an invoice then statement to then receive payments but this way is as said the policy as lawyers do not even send the applicant a statement of account? But things happen and as the claims progress of course action by some lawyers is that they are thinking this is the best opportunity to fill their pockets up and decide to buy property under a mortgage. Well as at June 2012 there seems to be a go slow with payments as too many lawyers---yes apparently Ngati Raukawa have I heard around 52 lawyers on the pay roll?? so you see they are all in for the kill. I can also see why the Government want a quick solution.

WAI 108 LEGAL ADVISER:

Wai 108 has an unrecognised Treaty USA legal adviser on our UN work but did seek to use the services of Moana Sinclair in 2011 who added the Durie name to her name to get supposedly more clients. Later on yet another name change back to her original name which even TPK saw and noted to us. However we had carried out our own research and we did not want to hold the tail of the horse rather carry the reins due to the lack of insight into the Muaupoko Horowhenua Block affairs.

So we advised the Legal Aid service that we wished to stop any further legal aid as our bill was within reach of 6 figures???. Our reasons were basically as said lack of knowledge in our tribal affairs which only we could explain. Our questions received round about answers sometimes & requests for certain information never forthcoming so with this we decided that we did not need to waste tax payers funds and resign from using any legal services. Lawyers in NZ are creaming from this Waitangi issue not the claimants who may not gain anything. No provision is made to compensate those claimants yet lawyer can bill the legal aid for fees in excess of what really they should retain even though they say the opposite. To us its another rip off like a Maori Land court Judge who procrastinates on judgement and says they are "referees only". Its not the claimants at fault for their lack of understanding. Its the lawyers, Judges and Sirs on the pakeha bandwagon who are too blame. Some lawyers make millions from settlements but bet your life they give nothing back nor over their years of tenure ever helped Maori before this all came about--a few Judges we can name are also in this category.

OPPOSITION GROUP CALLED MCC MUAUPOKO CLUSTER

With their 4 lawyers their became a group of some 22 claimants who formed a cluster group which the Tribunal had asked for as one cannot go alone. They only listen to a wider body. But under the treaty of Waitangi individuals can be heard? so here its questionable. The lawyers for the claimants x4 and approx 22 claimants setup an MCC Muaupoko Claimants Committee as they were locked out by the MTA who want to use one claim for all. Thus you now have 2 sides fighting yet noone could compromise to go as one and meetings broke down due to the antics of certain tribal members. In the MCC they were told to form a Trust Board and nothing was done and I had brought this up from the start as one needed a board of trustees.

The lawyers did nothing and even my lawyer was asked to form one 7 months previous to July 2012 but again never achieved the aim. Meetings were just a voice for a few and they never established anything but as at July 2013 the Cluster is going to hearings. The lawyers were in effect working against any solution as they never worked together and it continues to flounder and hence Wai 108 realized that it must go it alone and lobby for a working body for the upcoming Waitangi settlement with the crown. To be a success we need a tribal business model of good kawanatanga minded kaumatua--- it is missing. Wai on June 21st resigned from legal aid to carry the lobby to the politicians of NZ to seek help as an INDEPENDENT with another Claimant who felt the same. The Government have a set figure in minds for Wai claimed settlements. Negotiations need to be strictly to the point. With Wai claimants wanting to tell their story may be just for the record but will these stories unless they have true foundation be accepted in any settlement when the figure has already been set. In the meantime as these huis drag on we are subjected to still less of a settlements claim as landbanked properties are sold by the crown at will now. But the figure does not change. Lawyers of course need to push for hearings as they then stretch it out for $$$ terms. Clearly there must be a point in time when both the Crown and claimants can get a consensus but in the meantime there is nothing.

But during this time we finally had an AGM. The AGM of June 8th 2011 which was a farce passing a constitution or trying to without anyone reading it then doctoring the minutes and the attendence list. The 2012 AGM only had a quorum of 21 attendees and as a fight broke out it was closed before it started. So whats new? using votes cast by whom??? yet Crown Forestry Rental Trust won't take them off their Funding List????? wonder why?

Total fees paid to Crown Forestry Rental Trust trustees 1992–2003

Click on the links below and read more about the Crown Forestry Rental trust and where your money goes.

READ THE PARLT REPORT ON CROWN FORESTRY RENTAL TRUST Forty-seventh Parliament (Mahara Okeroa, Chairperson)November 2003: [ OPEN CFRT INVESTIGATIVE REPORT ]

READ MORE PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS ON CROWN FORESTRY RENTAL TRUST [ OPEN CFRT REPORTS ]