The
Court of Appeal has criticised huge legal bills totalling in excess of two
million dollars clocked up in largely unproductive litigation by vested
interests within Maoridom fighting to access accumulated forestry rentals of over
$245 million.
Crown Forestry Trust was set up in 1990
as an interim measure to hold rents from crown owned forestry assets in the
North Island and upper South Island. It
was expected Treaty claims by Maori to specific forestry blocks would be
settled relatively quickly. Many have
not. Twenty five years on, the Forestry
Trust holds over $245 million of accumulated rentals in short term bank
deposits. Accumulated rentals that were
expected to be handed over to successful Treaty claimants are being used to
fund Treaty claims generally. Last financial
year, $14 million of Forestry Trust funds was used to assist Treaty
claimants. The Court of Appeal said
ongoing unproductive litigation reflecting the state of chronic dysfunction by
Maori in dealing with Forestry Trust rentals is diverting funds from deserving
beneficiaries.
The Court was told of a 2014 hui in Lower
Hutt where personal and tribal differences spilled over into anger and
insult. The Court was asked to rule on a
compromise designed to placate divergent views within Maoridom.
The 1990 Crown Forestry Trust has six
trustees: three appointed by government representing the Crown; three appointed
jointly by the NZ Maori Council and the Federation of Maori Authorities
representing Maoridom. In recent years there
has been a deadlock between the Maori Council and the Federation over their
choice of replacement trustees and alternate trustees. Alternate trustees make Trust decisions where
an appointed trustee has a personal or tribal interest in the matter being
decided.
Evidence was given of a compromise formula
devised for trustee appointments. It
created a ten member committee, called the Maori Appointer, with five delegates
each from the Maori Council and the Federation.
This committee was to decide on joint trustee appointments to the
Forestry Trust. At its first meeting,
existing trustee Alan Haronga was voted off the Forestry Trust on votes from
eight of the committee: four from the Maori Council and four from the
Federation. Two existing trustees had
their term of appointment extended. Influential
voices within the Federation challenged the decisions.
The Court of Appeal ruled use of the ten
member Maori Appointer was invalid. The
Forestry Trust requires the executive members of the Maori Council and the
Federation at separate meetings to agree on trustee appointments. They cannot delegate that power to anyone
else. The Court said executive members
can take advice and receive recommendations from others, but the final decision
must lie with a joint decision of the executives of the Maori Council and the
Federation. The Federation’s
constitution specifies an eleven member executive, with a quorum of six.
As a parting shot, the Court of Appeal
said the litigants could recover only a nominal sum of $2500 each from trust
funds for their legal expenses. The
amount of the Trust’s money spent to date on legal costs is unacceptable,
diverting income from the Trust’s primary purpose, it said.
NZ
Maori Council v. Foulkes – Court of Appeal (18.11.15)
16.008