Maori HIV plan shelved

A proposal to allocate half of the New Zealand Aids Foundation council seats to Maori has been scrapped.

A round of regional hui were set to begin next week to discuss the council backed proposal, increasing board numbers from seven to eight and setting a minimum Maori representative contingent of 50 per cent.

However, foundation deputy chairman Simon Robb said yesterday that opposition from interested parties forced the council to withdraw its proposal.

"It is fair to say most submissions to the proposal did not support it. We need to re-engage with our stakeholders. Some of the [submissions] been been fairly strong in their language. Behind some of the emotion there are some concerns that have substance and we need to work on that feedback," he said.

The foundation provides support for those living with HIV and Aids. The present board has four Maori members.

Maori make up about 15 per cent of the general population and around the same amount of the HIV-positive community.

Mr Robb said the status quo would continue on the board.

"We didn't feel there was sufficient understanding and sufficient support for what we were trying to do."