Wananga says Crown breached Treaty

Te Wananga o Aotearoa has filed papers claiming the Crown has breached the Treaty of Waitangi.

The claim lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal yesterday said the Crown had failed to honour its promise to pay millions of dollars due under a suspensory loan.

Education Minister Trevor Mr Mallard has refused to pay a $15 million suspensory loan as part of the wananga's treaty settlement, saying it has not met an 80 per cent Maori student ratio. Maori make up about half of this year's enrolments.

The claim was lodged by law firm Chen and Palmer on behalf of Harold Maniapoto and Tui Adams, representing the Aotearoa Institute, the wananga's parent body.

Mr Maniapoto, a former wananga council member, said withholding the money had "significantly contributed" to the wananga's financial difficulties and given the Government an excuse to take control of governance and management of the institute.

The wananga believes the minister is pushing to dissolve the council, appoint a commissioner and downsize the institute.

Meeting the quota would mean expelling thousands of pakeha students in return for the stalled financial lifeline.

The institute's claim said the quota demand and changes to the wananga's charter demanded by officials are illegal and will turn it into an apartheid institution.

The claim wants the Government to stop the statutory process that would dissolve the council and appoint a commissioner, and to convert the current Crown loan into a suspensory loan.

In May, the Government gave the wananga a $20 million loan to pay debts, but at least half of that has been repaid.

Mr Maniapoto and Dr Adams said they lodged the claim because the wananga council could not act itself as three of its five members were government appointed.

- nzpa