Getting the fish putea as an outcome of "The Sealords Deal" is a story in itself led by Rt.Hon. Matiu Rata who made the claim before the Waitangi Tribunal back in the day. The Crown (Government) had as a sustainable management of the fishery quota-rized the fishing catch and divided the sea off Aotearoa into fishing areas. Matiu won a landmark decision by challenging the Crown's title to the quotas of snapper and other species. After winning a proportion of the quota it was then up to Iwi Maori to manage their portion which they did under "Te Ohu Kai Moana." The series of hui then began around the country to deal with the allocation.
Te Hiku O Te Ika or the Far North or five tribes sorted their allocation simply by dividing by five to avoid any silly territorial squabbles. Ngati Kahu received a fifth of the Hiku total quota and shares in Te Ohu Kai Moana. That is how Ngati Kahu got its quota which it leases and its share dividends as a shareholder in those TOKM fishing companies. So the money comes from this source. Te Runanga A Iwi O Ngati Kahu is the administrator of these assets. When I held the fisheries portfolio for the Runanga we allocated all the proceeds (money) to the 12 marae of Ngati Kahu equally, ie we divided the money by 12.
After some years the Runanga took a percentage for administration which by then was administered by Tipene Herewini of Patukoraha. This was fair enough. However that proportion went up to half which was gross and by 2013 the Runanga took the lot. Also long before then the number of marae increased by two to 14. "Karikari" and "Werowero" were not marae according to the criteria set out by Makari Matiu and Waitonga Marsh for the Ngati Kahu Trust Board's membership inherited by the Runanga. That criteria was an existing and operating marae, and marae existing within the life time of our Kaumatua and Kuia informants at the time (1980s). These included Waitetoki, Okakewai and Mangataiore.
After speaking to Sonny Tomars at Werowero prior to his death he maintained that the cheques he received went back to the Runanga. However "Karikari" has a bank account and as of this year they have acquired over $80k. This has been acquired through constitutional fraud and needs to be investigated. The Runanga's constitution recognises these two non-existent marae. Their rules then say that allocation of this putea is by democratic vote of the delegates to their hui regardless of what marae people think.
So that's the fishy story.
