Media statement

13 December 2013

Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi will not appeal Appeal Court decision

Following legal advice Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust (Te Mana) has decided not to appeal the recent judgement relating to the Eastern Bay Energy Trust (EBET).

Chairman Graham Pryor says Te Mana has been vindicated by the Appeal Court Judges’ conclusion that a poll conducted in 1999 amounted to a breach of trust but that Te Mana wishes to now move on.

Mr Pryor said “Te Mana has decided to let the court ruling rest. Thankfully we now have clarity on the matter and we are pleased that the Court has provided a remedy for EBET to continue to hold the shares it currently owns despite having found EBET was in breach of its Trust Deed.

“Te Mana took court action to ensure the process EBET was using was open, informative and transparent for its beneficiaries. We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has provided some guidance on this and we’ve decided it is in the best interests of all involved to now move on,” said Mr Pryor.

Court action was started by Eastern Bay Energy Trust back in September 2010, and at that point Te Mana’s legal advice was to challenge EBET’s polling process to seek consumer approval to purchase all shares in Horizon Energy that it did not already own. Te Mana filed injunction proceedings, which were successful in getting EBET to abandon any reliance on the poll.

Questions were raised about whether or not EBET was in breach of its own trust deed in purchasing Horizon shares in excess of a 25% cap placed on it.

Last month the Court of Appeal concluded that while EBET had the power to acquire more shares, but that the poll to gain consumer approval was inadequate and therefore acquiring the shares was not authorised.

Te Mana will not be exposed to any costs of the court action as its supporter Marlborough Lines has previously agreed to pay all costs.

ENDS

About Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust

Te Mana was established in 2008 as a Post Settlement Governance Entity (PSGE) for the Central North Island Iwi Collective Forestry settlement. In 2011, Te Mana began engaging with the Crown, seeking a mandate to negotiate a comprehensive settlement of all Ngāti Rangitihi historical claims. Te Mana is led by Chairman Graham Pryor and Hāpai-Ō (Chief Executive) Anthony Olsen, and has 4,000+ registered beneficiaries.

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