Saturday 21 March 2009

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT DUE

A wee birdy tells us that Mark Solomon raised the possibility that the banks are getting a bit touchy at the moment over the public controversy surrounding the tribes leadership ( or lack of it)at the Hui at Rehua Marae yesterday and at Kaikoura.

Ngai Tahu reputedly has a $200 million dollar credit facility ( note: credit)

Apparently Solomon suggested that all the raruraru ( arguing ) in the media was making the banks nervous.

Well for starters many companies are on notice from the banks - Credit is tight - full stop.
Secondly if they were worried it would not be because of what's in the papers or on the radio or TV or heaven forbid the Blogs. No, if they are in fact worried - it will be because they dont think that the current leadership is stable or horror of horrors maybe there some issues with financial performance or governance. We can only speculate.

But for Solomon to raise it as a big bogey is scaremongering at its worst and at best a limp attempt to make those who are opposing him feel guilty.

If the situation has got so bad that the financiers are reducing support for the tribe then, again we say that points to weak leadership.

Again we say that Solomon , for the sake of the tribe needs to step down.

And it is time for the Tau boys, Tahu Potiki and some of the other young Ngai Tahu businessmen and women to have a korero and develop a leadership plan to take Ngai Tahu into the future. It is time for them to put aside their egos ( and they all have them in spades) but put their wisdom and expertise forward.

The fate of the tribe is in their hands.

11 comments:

Adolf Fiinkensein said...

From the Joseph Goebbels hand book:-

1 Identify the problem you have created.

2 Blame the other bastards for it.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the above had anything to do with the hateful smear list sent to media? Sounds pretty similar to what was on the list.
Why would you want to put your head up in this tribe?

As for the banks getting jittery. I suspect the dumping of the chairman of the holdings company you have a good relationship with would probably have done that.

I suspect also that when the basis for doing so is " a time for a change" that it is amazing the bank is even still in dialogue with the tribe.

That this occurred at a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty defies belief.

Oh and they may have also questioned the financial acumen within governance to the decision to invest more than $52 million in a property development, also under the same economic dark cloud.

I think the chairs who have spoken out are going to have to be pretty robust. Looks like anything bad to come or that has come is going to be something MArk will try to make the wear!

Evelyn Cook said...

If there has been genuine concern raised by the Iwi's bankers, and we only have the word of the Kaiwhakahaere that there has been, then that must be sheeted home squarely to the genius(s) who designed and carried out the campaign against Wally Stone as the Chair of NTHC. We hadn't heard of any threat before his removal although I think the point about banks being more cautious anyway is valid. The issue of the $52,000,000 plus building might alarm any banker who already knows of the market glut of Christchurch office and retail space. Of course, it wasn't Wally who leaked that information. Word has it that it was one of the 'loose eleven'. Of course, they haven't been named and shamed either. I wonder if they have had the threatening emails and phonecall treatement too?

I don't expect anyone responsible to fall on their sword however. That would take more mana and courage than any of them have demonstrated to date.

Things will need to change markedly, I suspect, before we see Tahu Potiki, Te Maire and Rakiihia Tau Jnr in leadership roles. Yes, there are some healthy egos involved as well as some very good skills and a wealth of iwi institutional knowledge, but more importantly, they are men with very young families. What right have we got as an iwi to expect them to expose their families, yet again, to the treatment they were dished out two short years ago?

Wally, Tahu, Te Maire and others have already paid a huge price for their love and commitment to the iwi. I don't know that I would be encouraging them if I were their nearest and dearest.

kehua said...

The sad truth, and cause of much waste,time and opportunity over many generations of all races, those two words. Ego and jealousy. Some say good will always prevail but good seems to take such a long time and in this day and age time can cost so much in money, blood and catch up. I feel for you BB and admire your restraint to date, I also feel that your candid comments will be the forerunner for reasonable debate. Kia kaha girl.

Marty Mars said...

The economic crisis is deepening and will get worse. I would say all banks are looking at everyone. You only need to read about all the jobs being lost every day and a lot of those people will be Ngai Tahu whanui. While all this infighting is going on, what plans are being made to assist our people when they will really need it?

and also it is correct to ask what plans are being actioned to secure the economic base that has been built up.

In these times we need everyone to be paddleing in unison, Whatever the merits of either side, this whole situation has to be sorted.
Will the elections do it? I'm not convinced, coinsidering the entrenched views and personal animosity that is there.

Is it possible to get the two sides together to sort this mess out? A neutral venue?

I feel some sorrow for all parties involved in this and I find the personal attacks pretty vicious and I wouldn't wish that sort of any stuff on any iwi member who offers their services to the iwi. But it is time for everyone to get humble and its also time for people to come out from behind other people and say their true thoughts so that we can hear them.

I am positive we will sort this out and the lessions we learn and healing we achieve will be great, because i know we have done this in the past and our tupuna still guide us - and we are still here.

Anonymous said...

heasay building on hearsay = misinformation

and then there was the deliberate campaign of misinformation

If the iwi's banks have raised genuine concerns and "we only have his word for it" First he did not raise it the Chairs of the Runanga did and second why the need for the slur implying he is lying?

"Word is that ..." more hearsay and slander.

Talk about smear campaigns. There can be few people who are not aware that Tahu has done some things in his youth that looking back I would imagine he regrets. It is not a surprising it comes around again at times like this.

To point it out is not a smear campaign but it is not to be encouraged either.

The way in which people chuck about assertions as if they are facts is as disturbing as it is pointless.

The removal of a chair of a board but leaving the remainder in place signals to the rest of the commercial world that something was amiss with that leadership but not that board. The fact that TR itself is not advertising far and wide as to why they felt the need to remove Wally is the very opposite end of a smear campaign.

The problem with the furore being created is that Wally's name and reputation is being undermined every time someone raises these questions.

So let us get back to our own marae and tidy up our own back yards. Let us stop implying this one is lying or that one has some motive re money.

I a with the prvious post. Why not celebrate the things Ngai Tahu and these various individuals have achieved.

I Whakapapa said...

Why would we want such a huge credit with anyone? Would we not as an iwi & even as a buisness not be tightening our belts like everyone else in resopnse to the hard fintinail times we are experiencing, for that is certainly what we as Ngai Tahu whanui are doing........

It saddens me also that it has come to such horrible sh*t throwing to prove a point......... WHat point they were trying to prove I am not sure, but as I have said in other comments it does seem that for some it apears an acceptable form of "debate"!! As seen in the emails by our Kaiwhakahaere to the then chair of Kaikoura, not only was is accectable to others that this type of abuse was happening from our so called "leader" but it even got support from his "rentacrowd", shame I say............ For this is without doubt not in any way how my Tipuna would have conducted themselves & certainly from what I know not how the Tipuna of the Kaiwhakahaere would have conducted themselves either.

Marama said...

I agree with Kehua, I too have been taught that good will always prevail........ But I too am tired of waiting & praying, I have made adecision that standing in the background & waiting for Tika to win, I am going to join those whom are brave enough to speak out against the current leadership & support them in any small way I can, even if its just to tautoko a blogg.

Good on you BB for pointing out that this is the 1st time you have had to moderate, I feel for Tahu & his whanau, kia kahu to you both.

Sandy said...

rehua was a potlitical forum for the Kaiwhakahaere to discredit the chairs and Wally Stone. Get real people thats all it was. the Ngai tahu meeting Saturday morning was a real eye opener which showed just how arrogant this guy Solomon is. his behaviour towards Rapaki Runanga was a disgrace and something that all Ngai Tahu whanui should know about. Kia kaha Rapaki you showed dignity and mana, something Solomon does not have or understand.

Sandy said...

rehua was a potlitical forum for the Kaiwhakahaere to discredit the chairs and Wally Stone. Get real people thats all it was. the Ngai tahu meeting Saturday morning was a real eye opener which showed just how arrogant this guy Solomon is. his behaviour towards Rapaki Runanga was a disgrace and something that all Ngai Tahu whanui should know about. Kia kaha Rapaki you showed dignity and mana, something Solomon does not have or understand.

Anonymous said...

Sandy can not have been at Rehua.

Mark made a point of scotching some Wally related rumours which put Wally in a bad light.

The meeting was open to all Ngai Tahu who wanted to have a say. Not all the comments were supportive of Mark and the only time someone was asked not to go on was when she made a comment (understandable from her perspective) but which the kaumatua felt went too far.

I would have thought that if the people who went to the media had something they wanted to share with the whanau they should have been there.

The Chairs discredited themselves by going to the media, turning up at Takahanga and then not turning up at Rehua.

They are trading in secrecy and misinformation and claims they have the backing of their runanga.

The Upoko of Otakau made it clear that Tahu does not speak for them and others there made it clear that their Chairs don't speak for them either.

An open meeting was not what they wanted at all.

Here is hoping that there is another big turnout at Awarua this weekend. At least some of them will need to be there.