Statement on the Terrible New Zealand Charitable Trust by the independent Charities Registration Board

Published 18 December 2019

In its decision of 16 December 2019, the independent Charities Registration Board Te Rātā Atawhai (the Board) has decided to deregister The Terrible New Zealand Charitable Trust (the Trust) and disqualify two of its officers for a period of three years due to serious wrongdoing.

The role of the Board is to maintain the integrity of the Charities Register by ensuring that entities on the Charities Register continue to qualify for registration.

The Board makes its decisions by applying the law to the facts before it. The Board may direct that a charity be removed from the register if there has been a significant or persistent failure by one or more of the officers of the entity to meet their obligations under the Charities Act 2005 (“the Act”). It may also make such a direction if the entity or any person in connection to the charity has engaged in serious wrongdoing.

In this case, based upon an investigation conducted by Charities Services, the Board is satisfied that the Trust and two of its officers significantly and persistently failed in their obligations under the Act to respond to requests for information from Charities Services and to submit annual returns that complied with the reporting standards. The Board also found that serious wrongdoing as defined by the Act had occurred around significant governance issues, lack of accountability of trustees and breaches of trustees’ duties.

In addition to issuing orders to disqualify two trustees, the Board also issued an order that the Trust must not be reregistered as a charitable entity for a period of three years.

Roger Holmes Miller

Chair, Charities Registration Board