Ngāpuhi Investment Fund Limited, Tupu Tonu, is set to acquire a stake in the company that owns Northport, the deep-water commercial port at Marsden Point near Whangārei.
The fund plans to purchase a 7% share in Marsden Maritime Holdings, which owns and operates the port.
This investment marks a strategic move by Tupu Tonu to expand its portfolio and strengthen its role in regional infrastructure and is part of a wider consortium that includes the Ports of Tauranga and the Northland Regional Council.
Tupu Tonu chief executive, Ben Dalton, says it’s a major step forward for the investment fund.
“It’s one of the major infrastructures, along with the power companies, in the North.”
“If you want to be a 21st century iwi moving forward, then surely you’d want to own a percentage of the infrastructure that we all depend on.”
“Somebody’s going to buy it; why shouldn’t it be an iwi from the North?”
Ko hea te reo a ngā hapū?
Kua roa ngā hapū me ngā iwi o Te Poupouwhenua e tohea ana kia whai mana ai rātou ki ngā momo whakahaerenga katoa i te wāpu.
Nō te tau 2021, i whakakorea te tono a Northport, kia whakawhānuihia te wāpu ki te whanga o Whangārei.
E ai ki ngā kaikōmihana a te Kaunihera o Whangārei i taua wā rā, ka tūkino rawahia te taiao, ā, he mea haukoti anō hoki tēnei tono i ngā mahinga mātaitai a Patuharakeke.
Nō reira, e māharahara ana te mema pāremata o Ngā Kākāriki, a Hūhana Lyndon, kei noho mana kore tonu ngā hapū pēnei me Patuharakeke me Te Parawhau.
Ko tāna, whakatūria he hui.
“Kaua e haere kuhu mai ki roto i te rohe. Me puta koutou ki runga i te marae o Whangārei, Terenga Parāoa, kōrero ki ngā hapū o te rohe nei.”
Heoi anō, heoi tā Dalton, ka pakari kē ake te noho ngātahi me ngā mana whenua o tēnei takiwā, ka mutu, hei tāna he hua ka puta ki ngā mana whenua.
“I can’t talk about what’s already happened, but I have a meeting coming up with Patuharakeke and then, separately, with Te Parawhau.”
“There are downstream benefits that the local iwi can be apart of.”
Investment to boost the region
Started in 2020, the fund was designed to build long-term wealth for Ngāpuhi and invest in assets that contribute to regional development.
It operates independently and focuses on commercial investments that align with the iwi’s economic aspirations.
According to figures, port operations contribute $440 million in value-added economic activity annually, with port operations contributing approximately $40 million to the regional GDP. Dalton says investment in Northport is a no-brainer for Ngāpuhi.
“The comparison to the economic growth of our relations in the Bay of Plenty and other parts of the country—if you compare that to where we are in the north—it’s a chasm.”
Kāore he mana o te tahua pūtea o Tupu Tonu
Kei te wero a Hūhana Lyndon i te mana o te tahua pūtea nui nei o Tupu Tonu.
Ko tā Tupu Tonu, he tahua i tukua e te Kāwanatanga he moni, hei para i te huarahi i mua tonu i tētahi whakataunga tono Tiriti o Waitangi.
I tana ōrokohanga mai, e $150m te nui o te pūtea i tukuna atu ki a rātou, hei whakangaotanga mā rātou ki ngā kaupapa ōhanga o Te Taitokerau.
Hei tāna Lyndon, ko te mate kē, kāore e whai wāhi ana ngā hapū o Ngāpuhi ki te tohutohu i te tahua pūtea.
“Ko tēnei rōpū a Tupu Tonu, kāhore he mana ki roto i ngā hapū o Ngāpuhi.”
“Nā te Kāwanatanga tonu i tohua tēnei rōpū.”
