Māori development gets over $18 million boost
Published: Oct 6, 2020 · Updated: Dec 1, 2020
Māori development projects across the country will receive a total of $18.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) that will create infrastructure and permanent jobs.
Stewart Island is one of the areas being developed with visitor infrastructure including building tracks and shelters, a predator-proof fence, a new wharf and a building.
These projects will support economic development in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Manawatū-Whanganui, Waikato and Southland to build the future prosperity of these communities.
Each aligns to the PGF post COVID-19 reset criteria to create jobs and get social and economic recovery underway via projects visible within regional communities.
More than 300 jobs, both immediate short-term and permanent, will be created across the regions through the investments, with more to be confirmed.
As part of the PGF reset we are investing in projects that grow Māori firms and Māori assets in sectors that will be core to the economic rebuild. We are also continuing to invest in projects that meet whenua Māori criteria such as increasing productivity on underutilised land blocks, announced in February this year.
The PGF is funding existing Māori regional businesses with capital investment to increase productivity, increase job numbers and allow businesses to invest in regional economic development initiatives like construction and infrastructure. This investment allows these businesses to diversify into other sectors and markets and grow the Māori asset base in the regions.
The funding announced today will help these Māori trusts and businesses to diversify, develop capabilities and create job opportunities within their communities. Many of these groups would not have received funding from commercial sources as their assets are on collectively owned Māori land.
See the full list of projects funded below.
Māori development projects funded
| Project | Recipient | Amount | Jobs created | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poutama ki te taumata: Accelerating Māori enterprise development | Poutama Trust - National | $5 million |
To be confirmed |
Partnership project with Poutama Trust to identify regional Māori business able to upscale. |
| Nga Whenua Whanui | Taumata Tirotiro - Northland | $719,000 | 8 | Land development on four Māori owned land blocks for a beef farm operation. |
| Pukerewa Station Development Project | Pukerewa ‘A’ Trust - Waikato | $912,000 grant | 7, and 2 long-term | Install water reticulation, subdivide paddocks, and install fencing. |
| Food Production Hub Tuawhenua | Tuhoe Tuawhenua Trust (TTT) - Bay of Plenty | $986,000 grant | Up to 10 immediately, increasing to 25 by 2023 | The building of a Food Production Hub in Ruatāhuna including processing, packaging and storage facilities for food products. |
| Te Haumanu o Te Kapua | Ngāti Pūkenga Investment Limited (NPI) - Bay of Plenty | $3.9 million loan and $165,000 grant | 16 and 13.5 long-term | To develop underutilised Māori land into a 7ha Sungold™ kiwifruit orchard in Welcome Bay; restoration of 3ha of wetlands; restoration of a 2ha protected pā site. |
| Establishment of Miraka Hipi Dairy Platform | Onuku Māori Lands Trust - Bay of Plenty | $549,000 loan | 3 and seasonal jobs | Conversion of a dairy operation to sheep milking. |
| Turanga Ngāhere - Collective Forestry Development Project | Te Aitanga a Māhaki Trust - Tairāwhiti | $971,158 | 10 and 170 long-term | Land development to enable forestry plantations on 23 Māori Land Blocks, west of Gisborne. |
| Parera Station Development | Proprietors of Marangairoa C4 - Tairāwhiti | $495,838 | 10 and 2 long-term |
Farm remediation to install fencing and establish crops and upgrades to campground. |
| E tu Tamanuhiri Maranga | Maraetaha 2 sections 3 & 6 blocks Inc - Tairāwhiti | $489,900 | 12 | Land development on 460ha of underutilised land including fencing and water reticulation. |
| Harakeke Strawberry Farm development | Ngā Wairiki - Ngāti Apa Developments Limited - Manawatū-Whanganui | $1.62 million loan and $894,636 grant | 25 for one year and up to 36 long-term by year 3 | Develop a strawberry farm on a 5ha block of iwi land near Whanganui Prison. |
| Rakiura Oneki Southern Wildnerness Experience | Rakiura Māori Lands Trust - Southland, Stewart Island | $1.23 million loan and $950,000 grant | 30 | Develop visitor infrastructure including building tracks and shelters, a predator-proof fence, a new wharf and a building. |