Fishing deal first of joint iwi business

Kingi Porima addresses the hui at Hopuhopu where Tainui and Ngai Tahu signed their historic fishing business union. Picture / Amos Chapple

A multi-million-dollar fishing deal between Ngai Tahu and Tainui will be the benchmark for iwi co-operation, says a tribal leader.

Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon said the deal signed yesterday between the two tribes, with a combined asset base of almost $900 million, was the start of wider collaboration between the emerging tribal commercial powerhouses.

The deal was signed at Tainui's headquarters in Hopuhopu.

The pair are among the largest iwi fishing companies in the country.

Raukura Moana chief executive Richard Batley declined to detail the dollar worth or tonnage involved, other than to say it was a multi-million-dollar agreement.

Mr Batley said the two were major players in the fishing industry and would use combined resources to ensure the best for their beneficiaries.

Raukura Moana is a joint venture involving the main Tainui iwi of Waikato, Maniapoto and Raukawa.

Further joint ventures including combined international marketing were expected in the new year.

Mr Solomon said it was disappointing it had taken so long for iwi to combine their business clout.

In 1995 Tainui achieved a Treaty of Waitangi settlement of $170 million, an amount it has almost doubled. Its assets are now worth around $300 million. Ngai Tahu, the iwi super-power, more than trebled its 1998 settlement of $170 million. It is now worth more than $550 million.

"This is about pushing an iwi focus, building towards a full relationship looking at sharing ideas on financial, environmental, social and cultural issues," Mr Solomon said.

Last month around 20 iwi chairmen met in Kaikoura to look at ways of sharing resources.

Mr Solomon said the fishing arrangement was just the beginning.

"We have shown we can work together. The goal is for Maori to develop so we are recognised as a nation within a nation."

Tainui and Ngai Tahu were staunch opponents in the debate around divvying up the $170 million 1992 Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement. The dispute took more than 12 years to hammer out.

Tainui chairman Kingi Porima said the deal was a start.

"Maoridom can and will achieve so much more. We must work together and not rely on politicians."

THE DEAL

* Ngai Tahu Seafood and Tainui's Raukura Moana have agreed to supply each other with annual fishing catch entitlement for the next six years.

* South Island tribe Ngai Tahu get inshore fishing rights in the North Island. Raukura Moana get deepwater fishing rights.