Government in no-win situation on wananga

The Government looks set to re-ignite fallout over the embattled Te Wananga o Aotearoa when it decides the fate of the institute's council this week.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard is expected to announce whether the council will continue or be dissolved and a commissioner appointed - the highest level of Government intervention possible.

The outcome could result in the Government taking further control after appointing a Crown manager in May as part of a financial rescue package.

Mr Mallard said the wananga was on the brink of insolvency and required a $20 million Government bail-out. Senior wananga staff claimed the amount was overstated and that the institute's financial position was in part manufactured by the Government.

In a bid to stave off Government intervention the council voted to axe eight of its own members, including chief executive Rongo Wetere.

The restructuring and review of management and governance was included in a proposal put to the minister last month.

Labour is likely to take a hammering whatever the decision - either from Maori voters or the wider electorate.

Recent polls have shown Maori voters have started to return to Labour, perhaps concerned at the prospect of a National Government.

Labour (and more so its Maori caucus) would be sensitive to appearing heavy handed in its dealings with the wananga.

However, backtracking on what has been seen as a done deal could cause greater damage among the wider electorate, who have shown little tolerance for actions that appear to be pandering to Maori.

Act scored major hits on the Government with its wananga attacks which have bedded down a belief, real or not, that the wananga is extravagant and does not provide good value for the $239 million in taxpayer funding it received last year.

Mr Mallard believes that the wananga must reduce in scale and focus on Maori.

Buoyed by a strong job market, and smarting from criticism over perceptions of waste in some tertiary sectors, the Government has moved to cut funding to "low-quality" polytechnic courses as part of a $160 million overhaul aimed at raising standards.

Trade training and apprenticeships spending has been increased.

The outcome of the looming election is unlikely to offer relief for the wananga, with neither major party likely to offer alternatives to scaling down. Its days as the country's largest tertiary provider are numbered.