Maori Land Court Hearing

Tēnā koutou katoa

As many of you who regularly read our FB posts will know, in early October we learned via that same page that we were to appear before the MLC on November 18. This application for hearing was lodged by Tiraroa Bucknell-Webb, a current Committee of Management member. Tiraroa’s application to the Maori Land Court sort to have the 2020 AGM election results invalidated because voting was conducted by shareholding without a formal demand for voting by shareholding being put to the floor.
Over the past ten years or so, voting by shareholding has become the preferred method for electing new committee members because it is considered a fairer system. In 2018, Tiraroa herself was elected to the committee using this method without any formal demand being put to the floor. 

On Thursday, December 2, the judge delivered his decision.

:1. That in his estimation, the rules and regulations that govern the voting process had indeed been breached at the 2020 AGM and therefore the election was invalid.

2. That a fresh election for all three positions in accordance with the associated rules and regulations be conducted at the 2021 AGM, and that the minutes of that AGM be filed with the MLC shortly thereafter for his perusal.

3. That in the interim, the three affected members retain the full right to act as duly elected committee members. He also acknowledged the valuable contribution all three new members have made to the committee in their short tenure and that the cessation of their activities might undermine the committee’s ability to operate.

We accept, but are disappointed with this decision; the three affected committee members have worked hard this year to bring positive changes for our shareholders and community. Ella, our treasurer, has brought all accounting back under U7 control, tidied up all banking processes and consolidated our investments, Steven has advanced our papakainga project which is now sitting with TPK for funding consideration, and Luanne, our secretary, takes care of our comms and ensures U7 is represented at many of the local hui that concern Utakura and wider community.

By contrast, Tiraroa has not attended a committee hui since February 2020, abandoning her secretarial duties, her responsibilities to the shareholders who elected her, and the Provincial Growth Fund project, which she voted in support of, twice, then left to others to complete while ridiculing and undermining their efforts from the sidelines. Hence the reason for our disappointment.

However, we are grateful for the lesson learnt here; this committee is obliged to serve the interests of its shareholders, and that includes getting our processes right so those shareholders know what they can expect from us. Our priority now is to review our AGM protocols to ensure that shareholders are given every opportunity to participate meaningfully in the proceedings, so that when they leave the meeting they are very clear about what happened, why, and what comes next.

The 2021 AGM has been deferred to early 2022. The exact date will be confirmed, with 3 weeks clear notice, once we have certainty of how this will work under the Traffic Light Framework At this AGM there will be 6 committee vacancies, the 3 requiring new elections from 2020 and three up for rotation. If you feel you have the skill, the time, and the drive to bring to any project that will deliver benefits to our shareholders and community alike, nau mai, tono mai.