Highest paid Eastland Group/Trust Tairāwhiti employee received $3.4m remuneration

Some Trust Tairāwhiti remuneration band figures have been released. Photo / Gisborne Herald

One employee of Eastland Group or its shareholder, Trust Tairāwhiti, received remuneration of more than $3.4 million in the past financial year.

Including that person, three employees received remuneration of more than $1.35m, according to the non-audited information in Trust Tairāwhiti’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2025.

Trust Tairāwhiti is Gisborne’s regional community trust, focused on economic development, tourism and supporting community initiatives through grants.

It is the sole shareholder of Eastland Group, which manages regional infrastructure including Eastland Port, Gisborne Airport and Eastland Generation, producing renewable electricity from hydro, solar and geothermal plants.

More than 50 employees across Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Generation received more than $100,000 over the latest reporting period.

Combined, based on the lower end of the banding scale in the figures provided, total remuneration for 58 employees over that period was $16.02m.

That figure includes the final year of long-term incentive payments arising from the operational restructuring after the 50% sale of Eastland Generation to Obayashi Corporation, according to the document.

Further details on the largest payments, including which employees received them and what for, could not be given for confidentiality reasons, according to a Trust Tairāwhiti statement.

The highest remuneration figure was for one person listed in the $3.4m to $3.409m band.

When compared with the highest-paid NZ CEOs of the 2024 financial year, it would put that person at ninth place, above BNZ chief executive Dan Huggins ($3.37m rounded down).

One employee was in the $1.35m to $1.359m band, and another was in the $1.71m to $1.719m band.

The highest remuneration band for a single person in the previous financial year was $990,000 to $999,999.

Trust Tairāwhiti responded to a request from the Gisborne Herald for more details on the payments, including what roles the top-earning employees were in.

“The remuneration band figures in the 2025 financial statements include long-term incentive payments to a number of Eastland Group employees, as well as termination and restructuring payments arising from the operational restructure following the 50% sale of Eastland Generation,” a written statement said.

“This information is provided for transparency, as accounting standards applying to Trust Tairāwhiti as a public benefit entity do not require that disclosure. For confidentiality obligations, we are unable to disclose specific positions or individuals.”

According to the NZ Treasury, public benefit entities are defined as “reporting entities whose primary objective is to provide goods or services for community or social benefit and where any equity has been provided with a view to supporting that primary objective rather than for a financial return to equity holders”.

The Gisborne Herald sent follow-up questions requesting more details on the incentive payments mentioned.

Trust Tairāwhiti said it could not comment on the specifics of individual contracts.

Trust Tairāwhiti distributed $10m in grants to community groups for the year ended 2025.

In May 2024, the Gisborne Herald reported that Eastland Group’s head office would be reshaped into a holding company after the sale of Eastland Network for $260m and the sale of 50% of Eastland Generation for more than $250m.

The restructuring resulted in the departure of Eastland Group chief executive Matt Todd, who had been in the role since 2003.