Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024

Overview

In July 2024, the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill passed its third reading and received royal ascent as the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024.

The amendments represent the most significant changes to the Māori fisheries settlement infrastructure in 20 years, and began as a part of the statutory review process that began in late 2014 and early 2015.

The Māori Fisheries Act 2004 established Te Ohu Kaimoana, Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust (operating as Tapuwae Roa), Te Wai Māori Trust, and Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (trading as Moana NZ), and outlines the functions of those organisations, and the allocation of fisheries settlement assets to iwi.

Background

In 2015, a statutory review of Te Ohu Kaimoana was undertaken by Barrister Tim Castle in accordance with section 114(2) of the MFA. The review found that iwi wanted a closer relationship with the Māori fisheries settlement entities, greater direct control over TOKM, its subsidiaries and assets, and more flexibility to trade fisheries settlement assets between iwi.

The review recommended significant changes to the governance and ownership framework established under the Act, including  removal of Te Kāwai Taumata as the appointor of Te Ohu Kaimoana directors, increasing direct control of AFL, enabling iwi to appoint directors of key entities and simplifying the transfer of settlement assets between iwi.   

Following the review, Te Ohu Kaimoana established an Iwi Working Group (IWG) to consider the recommendations and develop options for implementation. Consultation with iwi culminated in a Special General Meeting in June 2015, where binding resolutions were passed to:

• Remove the electoral college.
• Retain but restructure Te Ohu Kaimoana in accordance with a funding model to be approved in 2016.
• Retain Te Ohu Kaimoana’s role in appointing the directors of Te Wai Māori and Te Pūtea Whakatupu (now operating as Tapuwae Roa), and to increase director positions on each entity.
• Transfer Te Ohu Kaimoana’s voting shares in AFL to iwi and convert all iwi held shares to ordinary shares in order to transfer direct control of AFL to iwi.
• Remove the restrictions on the sale of settlement assets by allowing for the sale of assets within the Māori ownership pool.

There were also a number of non-binding (formal recommendation – not legally enforceable) resolutions passed at the SGM to integrate the entities of Te Ohu Kai Moana Group; undertake a further review and progress an FROR (First Right of Refusal) in regard to the assets of AFL.

Following the SGM, further iwi engagement commenced with regional hui, workshops and surveys taking place in the lead-up to the March 2016 Hui-ā-Tau(Annual General Meeting) took place, where iwi voted for an independent review of the funding model for Te Ohu Kaimoana.

 A review was carried out by a second independent IWG and was voted on at an SGM on 30 August 2016 where 18 resolutions (comprising of 14 based on resolutions passed by iwi, and 4 technical proposals by Te Ohu Kaimoana) passed resolution for the consideration of the Crown. Te Ohu Kaimoana presented its first report to the Minister of Primary Industries in September of 2016, and second report to the Minister in August of 2017 where the Crown considered the resolutions and technical proposals. 

In summary, the recommendations from the 2015 review as well as the proposals developed by the two iwi working groups established to address the review, resulted in 18 resolutions from iwi requiring changes to the Māori Fisheries Act. Of those 18 resolutions, 14 were developed and voted for by MIO, and 4 additional technical proposals were developed by Te Ohu Kaimoana and consulted on with iwi. 

Following this in 2017, there was a delayed period of progress. Then in August 2022, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries released an exposure draft of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill (the Bill). This exposure draft and the Bill were prepared without any input from Te Ohu Kaimoana in the drafting instructions or into the legislative policy decision-making by the Minister.

 In March 2023, the first reading of the MFA Bill took place, which was then followed by a period of engagement with the Māori Affairs Select Committee. Te Ohu Kaimoana engaged heavily with the Crown and iwi throughout 2023. The second reading of the MFA Bill took place in March 2024, followed by the third and final reading in May. The Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 was given Royal Assent in July 2024 and commenced on 26 July 2026.

‍Handover period post July 2026

While the MFAA legislation requires the governance and operational processes to be in place by 26 July 2026, there will need to be a transitional period to allow time for the new relationships, responsibilities, and constitutional and operational policies and procedures across our Te Ohu Kaimoana kāhui and MIO/RIO/RMO/AHC to bed in.

If you have any pātai on the MFAA implementation, please contact MFAA Programme Director, Tania Heyrick, at: tania.heyrick@teohukaimoana.nz

Mandated Iwi Organisation Constitutions

We encourage MIO to continue to progress amendments that will need to be made to governance documents to align with the MFAA changes. In December of 2024, we provided all MIO with the Māori Fisheries Act 2024 Iwi Information Pack (a copy of this can be found here).

This pack provides a detailed overview of the key changes and a suggested timeline for MIO to work towards. All changes will need to be in place by 26 July 2026, and our legal team are actively working with MIO to support these changes. If you have any pātai or would like to discuss these changes further please contact our Legal Manager Adair Houia-Ashwell via email at: adair.houia-ashwell@teohukaimoana.nz‍