Clark to take another look at Maori policies

By RUTH BERRY, political reporter

The Prime Minister yesterday steered the Government into damage control, confirming plans to review policies targeting Maori to ensure they are based on need, not privilege.

She spoke of a need for a new balance and suggested some education initiatives in particular might change.

Confronted by successive polls showing National opening up a lead on Labour, Helen Clark admitted the public's concerns were genuine and had to be addressed.

She was at pains to hammer home the message that the Government, determined to regain its support in the court of public opinion, was responding.

Education and particularly Government-funded scholarship had emerged as an area of public concern in the Weekend Herald coverage of the issue, she said.

"A new balance has to be found. I hear what people are saying. I read what they are saying. I think there are obviously concerns that need to be addressed and they will be addressed. So you can expect some ongoing response and initiatives."

The Prime Minister suggested that National was responsible for mounting public concern.

"For quite a long time there has been generally a consensus around how a lot of the issues affecting Maoridom are dealt with. That consensus appears to have been shattered."

Whether the Government actually intends to change many policies as a result of its "review" remains a moot point.

Helen Clark said she would give further details of the "review" today, but sources said little more of substance would be revealed.

The tensions inherent in placating the public were evident when she said: "In terms of a number of issues affecting Maoridom, governments of both kinds may well have been ahead of public opinion."

The Government pays for relatively few Maori scholarships - most are from iwi and Maori trusts - and there appear to be few other Government-funded initiatives designed to benefit individuals rather than groups of people.

Helen Clark signalled it was initiatives in the first category that were likely to face scrutiny, saying potential difficulties arose when programmes moved from a population-based to an individual approach.

"Then you have the possibility of someone in the target group who has a high income getting a subsidised education courtesy of the state and next to them is the son or daughter of someone on a low income who doesn't."

Apparently controversial university quota schemes, such as those operating for doctors and law students, were imposed by institutions and were their responsibility, not the Government's, she said.

National leader Don Brash's threats to refuse to fund universities offering quotas would land him in deep trouble with the institutions whose autonomy he would be meddling with, she said.

The quota threats, and his comments apparently suggesting the qualifications of Maori who had graduated after entering through such a system were of lesser quality, sparked widespread anger last week.

Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey said the claim could lead to "employers not hiring Maori staff in the false belief that they have not had to meet the academic standards of other students".

The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee also jumped into the debate.

"At New Zealand universities, the standards of assessment in each discipline are the same for all students," it said.

Dr Brash said yesterday he had not meant to suggest Maori graduates who entered through a quota system emerged with lesser qualifications.

What he meant was that "there's a real risk that affirmative action programmes lead to the appointment of people to jobs who are not the best applicant for the job".

Herald Feature: Sharing a Country