As you will be aware, Te Ohu Kaimoana has called a wānanga of Mandated and Recognised Iwi Organisations, Recognised Māori Organisations, Iwi Asset Holding Companies, and the fisheries settlement entities to discuss the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024.
The amendments represent the most significant changes to the Māori fisheries settlement infrastructure in 20 years. Now that changes to the Māori Fisheries Act are confirmed, the purpose of the wānanga on 9 September is to provide some historical context to the changes, discuss what needs to happen next to give effect to the changes, and present an implementation plan for how we will implement those amendments.
The information pack (available here) provides background information on the resolutions passed by iwi at Te Ohu Kaimoana General Meetings in 2015 and 2016 (and their intent), and if/how they have been carried into the Amendment Act. In some cases, resolutions passed by iwi did not require legislative change, and we will talk to how those have been implemented. The document also outlines a proposed implementation timeframe, with key milestones over the next two years, which is the timeframe defined by the Act.
The wānanga is an opportunity for discussion on how we move forward together. On behalf of the board of Te Ohu Kaimoana, we are looking forward to the discussion on the day, and collaborating with each other to give iwi greater rangatiratanga, and supporting our kāhui entities to provide settlement benefits to all Māori.
