The Office of the Maori Trustee in Gisborne has welcomed a move by the Chamber of Commerce in Hawke's Bay, to organise a specialist governance training programme for trustees of 10 Maori Trusts.
The programme will give trustees skills in strategic development, finance, investment, risk management and business planning, so they can take over the governance and management of land, which the Maori Trustee currently has control over.
Maori Trustee regional trust manager Maui Tangohau says it's an initiative which will give trustees the chance to influence the culture, behaviour and reputation of their trust.
He says the proper discharge of a trustee's duties requires ethical standards over and above purely legal requirements.
Mr Tangohau says until now the level of input which individual trustees have had into the running of Maori incorporations has varied.
