New Zealand Māori Rugby board chair and New Zealand Rugby deputy chair Dr Farah Palmer has plans for the $2 million the Māori Rugby board will get immediately as part of the Silver Lakes investment deal with NZ Rugby.
Speaking to teaomaori.news today about the deal that will see $200 million initially injected into NZ Rugby, she says: "We've never had that much investment in Māori Rugby, so now we've got to move into the operational side of things and how we best utilise that investment."
With lots of arguments over the US private equity firm's proposal to develop rugby income over the past couple of years, including the NZ Rugby Players Association’s concerns about the commercialisation of Māori and Pasifika cultures, Palmer says a legacy fund will be established to house the $2 million for Māori Rugby, which will be used within the community area.
She says NZ Rugby has had two independent reports written on what it means for Māori IP and how we can make sure that we put protections into place for the legal documentation, and the new organisational structures that may be put in place.
“The Māori Rugby Board will again have a representative on the group that decides how the fund gets allocated.
“So $7.5 million will also go to clubs, so we’re hoping that we’ve got a lot of clubs that have a high proportion of Māori players and volunteers, so they too will see benefits of it, and the provincial unions as well where a lot of our Māori players are, they will also be getting the benefit this deal.”