Declining to remove current trustees, the Maori Land Court said thirty years poor governance of a Maori-owned one thousand hectare Waikato beef and sheep farm on the coast north of Raglan was being turned around by new trustees.
Pukerewa A Trust has about 240 beneficial owners. They have received no annual dividend since 2017.
The Maori Land Court was told a history of fences left unrepaired, stock lost to rustling, a farm manager (since dismissed) who ran operations primarily for his own benefit, coupled with deals seeing Pukerewa trustees benefitting from uneconomic transactions leasing land to themselves.
These transactions led to further loss of Trust funds when trustees were bailed out to forestall a mortgagee sale.
The farming block was previously managed by Lands and Survey on behalf of its geographically dispersed owners. In 1981, management and control were passed across to beneficial owners, following creation of an ahu whenua trust; part of political initiatives returning control of Maori assets to Maori, ending a long period of state benevolence with civil servants making all management decisions.
Pukerewa beneficiaries have made multiple applications to the Maori Land Court for a review of farm operations since 2010.
Each time, the court ordered financial information be provided to beneficiaries and communications improved.
The most recent court hearing concerned a 2021 application that all then current trustees be removed. By the time a court decision was made four years later, both the applicant and his legal adviser had died.
Declining to remove current trustees, Judge Mullins said the Trust is making steady progress, with a genuine effort by trustees to return to profitability.
Trustees were ordered to provide a full financial update within two months, to be followed by a general meeting of all beneficiaries to present their report.
In 2020, the Trust received a $912,000 grant from the provincial growth fund to rebuild 100 kilometres of fencing and upgrade 60 kilometres of water reticulation.
Trust beneficiaries questioned whether the trustee who negotiated this grant should receive extra payment for work involved.
The general rule in trust law is that trustees are not paid for their time, Judge Mullins said. Reimbursement is permitted for actual and reasonable expenses.
Amongst the complaints from Pukerewa beneficiaries are the extent of unexplained payments baldly described as ‘trustee meeting expenses.’
re Pukerewa A Trust – Maori Land Court (14.03.25)
25.085