Crown Forestry Rental Trust has six Trustees, who are appointed by designated Appointors:
- For the Crown – the Minister of Finance as Crown Appointor, appoints three Trustees, and
- For Māori – the New Zealand Māori Council and the Federation of Māori Authorities appoint three Trustees.
Trustee powers and duties are defined in the Trust Deed, and broadly include:
- duties to account for forest rental fees paid to the Trust;
- duties to report to Appointors;
- powers to invest rental fees, and
- powers to apply interest income to help eligible Māori claimants prepare, present and negotiate claims that involve, or could involve, Crown forest licensed lands.
Current Trustees
Mr Rakihia Tau
Rakihia is the Crown Forestry Rental Trust Chair. Rakihia’s his first career was in engineering, being certified with Advance Trade Certificate in fitting and turning, and he is also a qualified Marine Engineer. After qualifying with a B.Com and MBA, he began his second career in business and commerce.
He was one of 5 principal negotiators for the Ngāi Tahu Claim. He has held several senior governance positions including being past chair of the SOE AgriQuality Ltd and a director of Ngāi Tahu Properties Ltd.
Rakihia has also held senior executive positions within the public (publically listed) and private sectors. Rakihia is a Partner and Commercial Director of the consultancy firm Arahia.
Rakihia joined the Trust in July 2013.
Mr Paul Majurey
Paul has been a lawyer for 30 years, most of those as a partner at Russell McVeagh and in more recent years as a partner at Atkins Holm Majurey. His expertise is in Treaty, Māori and environmental law, having appeared as senior counsel before the specialist environmental and Treaty courts and tribunals, and the superior courts including the Privy Council and Supreme Court. Paul has served on three Ministerial technical advisory groups and is a co-author of the leading environmental law textbook.
Paul has extensive Treaty negotiations governance experience, chairing three separate iwi/hapū collectives comprising 30 iwi/hapū. He is a chair or director of several company boards, especially for his Marutūāhu and Pare Hauraki iwi interests. Paul also chairs or is a member of several statutory entities.
Paul joined the Trust in November 2014.
Hon Tau Henare
Hon Tau Henare has a background in community development, early childhood education and union organisation and has extensive experience in public policy.
Tau was elected to Parliament as the member for Northern Māori from 1993 to 1996 and as MP for Te Tai Tokerau from 1996 to 1999, and was Minister of Māori Affairs from 1996 to 1999.
He was a list MP with the National Party from 2005 to 2014, and Chairman of the Māori Affairs Select Committee from 2008 to 2014. Tau was appointed to the Housing New Zealand Board at the end of 2015 and the Independent Māori Statutory Board in November 2016.
Hon Tau Henare has been a Trustee since 1 October 2016.
Ms Bronwyn Koroheke
Ms Koroheke has 25+ years experience in providing financial, accounting and business expertise and 10 years in senior finance roles. She is experienced in various sectors including tertiary education, local and regional government, health, energy, and the Māori and corporate sectors. She is an experienced Chief Financial Officer, and has worked at Māori Television and for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as Chief Financial Officer. She also has 20+ years experience in operating in kaupapa Māori organisations and has extensive Māori networks.
Ms Koroheke has been a Trustee since 6 November 2017.
Ms Lynell Huria
Lynell is a Managing Partner at Kāhui Legal law firm. She has over 25 years experience working in the intellectual property field, assisting small start-up businesses through to large multi-national corporations, whānau, hapū, and iwi.
Lynell has also built a practice around advising Māori, government, and industry on the protection of cultural heritage. Lynell also has a long history of volunteer work and governance positions across a range of community organisations.
Lynell has been a Trustee since 1 July 2020.
Annette Sykes
Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Mākino, Te Arawa waka
Annette has been a Director of a number of companies that were established as a consequence of litigation initiated against the New Zealand Government to uphold Māori customary fishing rights. She was a founding member of the Māori Broadcasting Agency, Te Mangai Pāhō which was established as a consequence of claims by Māori to protect Māori language for present and future generations.
She has been a long standing advocate of Māori land rights and appears regularly before the New Zealand Courts and in the special jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal.
She has attended numerous international seminars over the years promoting the rights of indigenous peoples and gave evidence in the Women’s Court against Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001 and forums in Bali and the Pacific that looked at the questions of human trafficking and militarisation of the Pacific to the detriment of the indigenous populations affected.
Annette is currently a Principal of her own law firm Annette Sykes & Co based in Rotorua which seeks to re‑establish the operation of Māori systems of law and custom, Tikanga Māori as the first law of this country. However, outside of the law practice, Annette is currently a member of Te Tai Timu Tai Pari Technical Roopu, who provide technical expertise and knowledge to Te Arawhiti on the transition of takutai moana rights under the resource management reforms, and also a member of Te Tai Kaha technical roopu who provide expert advice to the Ministry for the Environment on Te Mana o Te Wai Policy in the Three Waters Legislation.