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"Elite Enrichment While Communities Starve" - 26 August 2025

How Crown Board Fee Hikes Expose Colonial Capitalism's True Priorities

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

26 Aug 2025 — 11 min read

Kia ora whānau. Ko ahau a Ivor Jones, te Māori Green Lantern.
Greetings family. I am Ivor Jones, the Māori Green Lantern.

While nurses strike for basic pay increases and teachers beg for recognition, Judith Collins and her colonial cronies have quietly gifted their hand-picked board members pay rises of up to 80 percent. This brazen display of crony capitalism, smuggled through a Cabinet document quietly uploaded online in July 2025, reveals everything we need to know about this government's priorities: enrich the elite, starve the people.

At its core, this scandal exposes how neoliberal governance functions as a wealth transfer mechanism from working whānau to the privileged few. While Māori communities face ongoing cuts to essential services and our tino rangatiratanga is systematically undermined, the Crown ensures its chosen guardians of capital are handsomely rewarded. This analysis will examine how these fee increases represent colonial capitalism in action, violating Te Tiriti principles while advancing the interests of a predominantly Pākehā elite.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/governments-crown-board-fee-rises-to-be-funded-from-agencies-existing-budgets-concerns-about-effect-on-services/OKTJYKKUO5ERFHXLGXFPLRAVYQ/

The Colonial Context of Crown Governance

To understand this scandal, we must first acknowledge what Crown entities represent within Te Tiriti o Waitangi framework. The Treaty guaranteed the Crown limited kāwanatanga (governance) while protecting Māori tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty). Yet Crown boards have become instruments of colonial control, making decisions about billions in public resources with minimal Māori representation or accountability to tangata whenua.

The Cabinet Fees Framework covers approximately 600 bodies across the public sector, from Crown entities to royal commissions. These positions wield enormous influence over policies affecting Māori communities, yet remain dominated by the same networks of privilege that have excluded tangata whenua since colonization began.

Historically, these boards have functioned as gatekeepers of colonial power, ensuring decisions align with Crown interests rather than Te Tiriti obligations. The mana of these positions has always been recognized through generous compensation – now formalized through massive pay increases while frontline workers serving our communities are told to tighten their belts.

The Scandal Unveiled: Elite Enrichment at Public Expense

On July 1, 2025, the Cabinet Fees Framework increased potential annual fees for governance board chairs from approximately $90,000 to $162,000 – an 80 percent jump that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended as necessary to attract "good talent." Group 2 and Group 4 bodies, along with audit committees, received 30 percent increases.

Percent Increase to Crown Board Fee Ranges by Category (July 2025)

But here's the kicker: agencies must fund these increases from existing budgets, meaning every dollar flowing to board members' pockets is a dollar not spent on services our communities desperately need. Collins acknowledged agencies "may need to reprioritise or seek efficiencies" – bureaucratic doublespeak for cutting services to pay the bosses more.

The timing couldn't be more insulting. While nurses have been offered a measly 3 percent pay increase over two years and teachers face the "lowest pay rise in a generation" at just 1 percent, board members – who attend a few meetings per year – receive windfalls that would make corporate executives jealous.

Neoliberal Logic: Markets for Thee, Socialism for Me

The government's justification reveals neoliberalism's core hypocrisy. Public Service Minister Collins argued that without competitive fees, "experienced directors don't want to do these jobs in the public sector because they know they're going to lose money." Finance Minister Nicola Willis declared that managing "billions of dollars of public money" requires "the very best people."

Yet when teachers managing our tamariki's futures or nurses saving lives demand fair compensation, they're told public service requires sacrifice. When Māori communities seek resources for kaupapa Māori initiatives, they're lectured about fiscal responsibility. The market logic only applies upward, never downward.

This selective application of market principles embodies what we call "capitalism for the poor, socialism for the rich." Those who actually deliver services face austerity and pay restraint, while those who govern from boardrooms enjoy market rates. It's the same logic that privatizes profits while socializing losses – heads I win, tails you lose.

The Framework's classification system further entrenches this hierarchy. Group 3 "Governance Boards" – including Crown entities and tertiary institutions – receive the largest increases, while Group 4 "All Other Committees" get smaller bumps. This mirrors colonial ranking systems that place decision-makers above service deliverers, management above workers, governance above community.

Māori Values Violated: Whakatōhea and Collective Responsibility

From a Māori worldview, this scandal violates fundamental values that should guide any legitimate governance system. Consider whakatōhea – collective responsibility for community wellbeing. True leadership means ensuring everyone is cared for, not enriching yourself at others' expense.

These board members aren't operating under whakatōhea principles. They're extracting maximum personal benefit while services to whānau are cut. A leader guided by Māori values would refuse pay increases while nurses strike for living wages, while teachers struggle to afford housing in the communities they serve.

Manaakitanga – the obligation to care for others – is completely absent from this framework. Where is the manaakitanga for overworked health workers? For teachers buying school supplies from their own pockets? For Māori families struggling with the cost of living? Instead, we see manaakitanga reserved exclusively for the already privileged.

The principle of kaitiakitanga – guardianship and stewardship – has been perverted into personal enrichment. These boards are supposedly guardians of public resources, yet their first instinct is to grab more for themselves. Real kaitiakitanga means protecting resources for future generations, not maximizing present extraction.

The Māori Dimension: Exclusion by Design

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer identified the racial dimension of this scandal: "We see Māori who are out there looking after the communities every day, and we're expected to do it for free. And we see government that's clawing back any sort of Māori governance positions."

This government has systematically dismantled Māori governance structures while enriching Crown boards. They've weakened Iwi Māori Partnerships Boards, reduced funding for Māori providers, and cut Treaty settlement processes – all while claiming fiscal restraint. Yet money magically appears when their political appointees need pay rises.

The demographics of these boards tell the story. They're overwhelmingly Pākehā, male, and drawn from corporate and professional networks that exclude most Māori. Ngarewa-Packer noted they "are usually the sort of demographic that would probably support this coalition government" – rewards for the faithful, punishment for the rest.

Meanwhile, Māori who do the actual work of caring for communities – in health, education, social services – are told their contributions aren't valued enough for decent pay. The message is clear: colonial management matters more than community care.

Health System Hypocrisy: Boards vs Nurses

The health sector exemplifies this scandal's cruel irony. Health NZ's reconstituted board could cost up to $1.712 million annually – the highest governance costs in the public sector – while the health system faces chronic understaffing and nurses are offered below-inflation pay increases.

Green MP Francisco Hernandez captured the absurdity: "Health NZ could have to choose between paying their board chair more or hiring more nurses." That's not hyperbole – it's the direct consequence of forcing agencies to fund board increases from existing budgets.

This reveals the government's true health priorities. They'll spend $1.7 million annually on a handful of board members but begrudge nurses – who actually save lives – a living wage. They'll ensure governance is well-compensated while more than half of all day shifts in surgical wards remain understaffed.

For Māori, this is particularly devastating. We experience worse health outcomes and rely more heavily on public healthcare. Every nurse not hired, every service cut to fund board salaries, disproportionately harms our whānau. The board members getting rich off our health system will never face the consequences of their extraction – they have private health insurance.

Hidden Connections: The Network of Power

These board appointments aren't merit-based selections – they're rewards for political loyalty and class solidarity. The same names rotate through multiple boards, accumulating fees from several positions. They come from corporate backgrounds, share social networks with ministers, and move seamlessly between private and public sector roles.

This creates what we might call "the governance class" – a small group of insiders who profit from overseeing public resources while remaining unaccountable to the communities affected by their decisions. They speak the language of "good governance" and "commercial expertise" but practice the politics of self-enrichment.

The government's argument about attracting "talent" from the private sector reveals their true allegiance. They want people who think like corporate executives, not community leaders. They want those who maximize returns for shareholders, not those who protect public good. They want managers who extract value, not guardians who preserve it.

This is colonization in action – replacing indigenous governance systems based on collective responsibility with imported systems based on individual accumulation. The Crown imposes its preferred decision-makers, pays them handsomely, then claims democratic legitimacy for their choices.

Broader Implications: The Austerity Lie Exposed

This scandal exposes austerity as a political choice, not an economic necessity. When ministers want to reward their allies, money appears instantly. When working people need pay rises, suddenly the cupboard is bare. When Māori seek Treaty justice, we're told to wait for better fiscal times. When board members want market rates, the cheques are cut immediately.

The government claims it must reduce public spending to control inflation and debt. Yet they've just approved potentially tens of millions in additional compensation for people who were already well-paid. If public spending is inflationary, why not start with the most wasteful spending – excessive payments to people who contribute least to actual service delivery?

This represents a fundamental breach of Te Tiriti obligations. The Crown has a duty to actively protect Māori wellbeing, which requires properly funded public services. Instead, they're diverting resources from service delivery to management compensation – weakening the very systems that could address Māori disadvantage.

The Māori Green Lantern fighting misinformation and disinformation from the far right

Call to Action: Resistance Through Rangatiratanga

This scandal demands immediate action from all who believe in justice and Te Tiriti partnership. We must expose this hypocrisy at every opportunity, challenge these appointments through proper channels, and support the striking workers who deliver actual value to our communities.

Māori must reclaim our rightful place in governance structures, demanding representation that reflects our population and Treaty status. We cannot allow colonial boards to make decisions affecting our whānau without our meaningful participation. Every time these positions become available, we must organize to ensure qualified Māori candidates are considered.

We must also support the nurses, teachers, and other essential workers who are fighting for fair compensation. Their struggle is our struggle – they serve our communities while board members serve themselves. Their victories weaken the austerity narrative that keeps our people impoverished.

Most importantly, we must continue building our own governance structures based on Māori values rather than colonial hierarchies. Every marae committee, every iwi authority, every kaupapa Māori organization practicing collective decision-making offers an alternative to the extraction model represented by these Crown boards.

The board fee scandal isn't just about money – it's about power, values, and vision for our society. We can choose collective flourishing over individual accumulation, community care over corporate management, tino rangatiratanga over colonial control.

This government has shown us their true priorities. Now we must show them ours.

MGL understands these are tough economic times for whānau, so please only contribute a koha if you have capacity and wish to do so. Those who find value in this mahi and want to support the cause can contribute to: HTDM: 03-1546-0415173-000.

Noho ora mai, whānau.

The Māori Green Lantern

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