This is Part 3 of The Daily Examiner’s article series on Labour Minister Nanaia Mahuta & egregious conflicts of interest involving her family. Part 1 “All In The (Mahuta) Family” was published on 14 May 2022 and Part 2 “All In The (Mahuta) Family – Taxpayer-Funded Empire Over Water” was published on 22 May 2022. All research credit to Twitter profile @kehetauhauaga, which has been tweeting this since 6 May 2022.

“Follow the money” is a common phrase in old detective tv shows. In this case, the dollar amounts involved to date are not large relative to the value of the public assets at play. However it is the intricate linkages between the select group of related parties and the ultimate control of billions of dollars of public infrastructure, and the future governance of New Zealand, that is the real issue.

Here, the funds paid are merely a formalisation of the relationship between the Crown & its Ministries and the related parties involved.

 

It is worth reminding readers that where “experts” are being appointed to key advisory positions, the standard acceptable process is to ensure that such “experts” have proven experience and applicable skillsets. This process is commonly applied at a higher standard where it applies to appointments to statutory or government positions, where taxpayer funds are being applied. Conflicts of interest are regularly assessed and where those exist, “expert” candidates are regularly discarded in favour of others that do not have conflicts of interest, whether those are familial, legal or commercial.

A timeline that was shown in Part 1 of our article series is reproduced here to show the Ministerial offices held by Nanaia Mahuta at the time her family members were appointed to various positions.

 

Ministry for the Environment – National Waste Strategy

The Ministry for the Environment paid two consulting firms, Ka Awatea Services Limited and Kawai Catalyst Limited, a total of $90k for services in the 2020/2021 financial year. In late February 2021, it was announced that Gannin Ormsby, Waimirirangi Ormsby and Tamoko Ormsby were 3 of the 5 members of a panel of Maori experts to “guide the development of the new Waste Strategy for Aotearoa New Zealand”.

As previously reported in Part 1 of our article series, all three of these individuals are directors of Ka Awatea Services, with Gannin Ormsby as the sole shareholder. We now further report that the latter two individuals are the directors and shareholders of Kawai Catalyst.

 

The announcement describes them thus:

“The rōpū is a group of Māori waste minimisation technical experts and thought leaders, with wide experience in the sector.”

The researcher has not been able to find any evidence that either Waimirirangi Ormsby or Tamoko Ormsby have any demonstrable skills in the waste sector.

 

 

Ministry of Maori Development – He Puapua

Waimirirangi Ormsby is credited as one of the co-authors of the He Puapua report, the outcome of the Declaration Working Group (DWG) appointed by Nanaia Mahuta in August 2019. This report was presented to Nanaia Mahuta on 1st November 2019.

It is noted in the He Puapua report that the DWG met only for 15 days.

As one of the 5 non-government members of the DWG, Waimirirangi Ormsby had a share of the total $44,094.80 paid to the non-government group and shown in the following Official Information Act response. This implies an average of $8,819 paid to each member of that non-government group for 15 days of meeting and production of the report with the government members of the DWG and Kahui Legal.

 

Waikato River Authority

As co-chair of the Waikato River Authority, Tipa Mahuta put Waimirirangi Ormsby forward to attend Board meetings of both the Waikato River Authority (WRA) and Waikato River Cleanup Trust (WRCT) as an observer. Board meeting minutes from June 2021 note that:

“Waimirirangi is being mentored by Co-Chair Mahuta as a future leader in the governance space.”

There is no further explanation as to the reason for selection of Waimirirangi Ormsby into this role.

 

Where To From Here?

With the immense importance of the advisory roles that these individuals hold, all of whom are related to Minister Nanaia Mahuta through close family ties, it would be entirely appropriate for taxpayer representatives independent of Minister Mahuta, to be presented with evidence behind the decisions of those appointments.

As the Cabinet Manual states, “Public perception is a very important factor”.

 

It is notable that Winston Peters, leader of the NZ First Party and former Deputy Prime Minister under the previous Labour Government, has publicly stated on Friday last week that:

“Questions have been raised about Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta having close family members appointed to influential and lucrative government contracts and advisory positions dealing directly with her portfolios.”

“These questions need to be settled by the Minister for total transparency, integrity of the position, and to give Mahuta the chance to protect the reputation of Maoridom.”….

“The non-existent degree of separation from these family members and their alleged role of influencing the Minister’s decision-making process raises serious questions that must be answered.”

“The fact is it looks like a ‘wink wink, nudge nudge’ approach to the process of these appointments and cannot go unchallenged. It just adds yet another level of the ‘mud-like clarity’ that surrounds the commissioning and content of the He Puapua report,” says Mr Peters.

“The Minister cannot just deny all knowledge.”

“If the Minister didn’t know, then she is exhibiting an untenable level of incompetence.”

To date, no members of the Opposition National Party or ACT Party have made any public comment on these matters.