Perry Edwin: Masterton District Council (Montfort Trimble Foundation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Perry Edwin: Masterton District Council (Montfort Trimble Foundation) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:614;Page:10421] 
EDWIN PERRY (NZ First) 
: 
 It is a real pleasure to speak to the Masterton District Council (Montfort Trimble Foundation) Bill. I would like to thank the member for Wairarapa Georgina Beyer for bringing the bill to the House for the legislation changes required to assist the foundation to widen its scope in the area of forestry. That was well overdue. As a local boy in the district I know that forestry is a major employer taking over from the rural sector. As a bit of background I would like to mention that my great-great-grandfather landed at Castlepoint in 1845 being the first European to drive Romney rams inland cutting his way through the virgin bush. 
Simon Power 
: Yeah? 
EDWIN PERRY 
: Yes I say to Mr Power. He was one of the first to meet the local tangata whenua which is my whakapapa on my mother’s side. 
I would like now just to quietly go through the bill and mention some of the areas the member for Wairarapa has mentioned. The first of these is the introduction. “The bill establishes the Montfort Trimble Foundation a charitable trust intended to administer proceeds arising out of the Trimble Trust and the harvesting of the Trimble Forest. Under the will of Dr Montfort Trimble who died in 1940 a charitable trust was established for the purposes of public afforestation in the then area of the Masterton County. In 1942 the Masterton County Council used income from the Trimble Trust to purchase a 127-hectare forestry block”—which was mentioned by my colleague from the Labour Party—“known as the Trimble Forest administered under separate trust arrangements. Currently the Masterton District Council administers the Trimble Forest trust while the Trimble Trust itself is administered by the New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Limited. The Trimble Forest is now being harvested and the proceeds from the sale of harvested timber are expected to exceed the cost of replanting. The bill provides” [ 
Interruption 
]—Mr Ken Shirley knows all about forestry owning a block in my little valley of Tinui—“for the trustee of the Trimble Forest to make distributions to the Foundation from the proceeds of the harvest of timber and for the trustee of the Trimble Trust to make distributions from capital and income. The main object of the Foundation is to promote public afforestation as defined in clause 5(1)(a) … The bill also defines the Foundation district as being the area that constituted the Masterton County as described in the 1931  
Gazette 
 and is shown in Schedule 2 of the bill. This will be the area of primary benefit and reflects the requirement in Dr Trimble’s will that the bequest be used for public afforestation in the Masterton County as it was at the time of the bequest. The bill therefore allows for distributions to be made outside the Foundation district provided the distribution is made either in respect of objects within the Masterton District or for the benefit of residents and ratepayers of the Masterton District. The bill also limits the percentage of distributions that can be made outside the Foundation district. 
“Objects of the Foundation … We are concerned that the extended objects contained in clause 5(1)(b) may override Dr Trimble’s intention as expressed in his will to provide for public afforestation. … For example the Foundation’s object would not cover riparian planting where tree planting on a riverbank is used as a form of flood protection. We believe such planting constitutes public afforestation and would therefore be a legitimate activity for the Foundation. Accordingly we recommend the inclusion of a new clause 5(1)(a)(vi) inserting the phrase ‘amenity and protection plantings and their maintenance’ as part of the Foundation’s object. 
“Powers of Foundation … We believe the Foundation’s capacity should be limited to activities related to public afforestation and consequently we recommend inserting the word ‘related’ before the word ‘business’ and before the word ‘activity’ in clause 6(1)(a). This should ensure that the Foundation has the capacity to perform any task necessary provided it is pursuing its objective of promoting public afforestation. … 
“Remuneration of Board members. We recommend inserting a new clause 22 to provide that Board members are entitled to receive remuneration to be determined by the Minister of Local Government in accordance with the fees framework for members of statutory and other bodies.” 
New Zealand First has the pleasure of supporting this bill going through to its third reading tonight.