South Island iwi Ngai Tahu wants to become a major investor in a public-private partnership to rebuild Dunedin hospital.
Photo: RNZ
The tribe's property base is Christchurch and the iwi believes it is under-invested in the South Island's second city.
Ngai Tahu Property chief executive Tony Sewell says Dunedin hospital's refurbishment could be a good next investment.
"Clearly that's going to be a fairly significant capital expenditure for the Government and we're suggesting to the Government that we might just like share the capital load with them."
Mr Sewell expects the hospital upgrade to cost about $300 million and says Ngai Tahu could put in $100 million to become a part owner of the land and buildings, in return for income from a long-term lease.
Mr Sewell says it's an opportunity to play a bigger part in the South Island.
He says the iwi sees itself strongly committed to the communities, and wants to invest in poor community infrastructure in Te Waipounamu.
Mr Sewell says his people aren't going away and they can be relied on to be around for a very long time.
But Health Minister Tony Ryall says the only public-private partnership on the horizon is the Buller family health centre, and the Government has no plans to sell any of its hospitals.
Chamber of Commerce would welcome Ngai Tahu investment
Otago Chamber of Commerce, which is pushing to keep Government investment coming south, says Ngai Tahu would bring much needed capital to Dunedin if allowed to invest in the hospital upgrade.
President Peter McIntyre says Ngai Tahu's offer should be embraced because it is the perfect investment partner for the Crown.
Mr McIntyre says Dunedin has been starved of inward capital for a decade or so, and the iwi is well placed to be involved in other key infrastructure development including roads and airports.
