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Sacked Auckland University lecturer Paul Buchanan says he has been forced to seek help from Winz after being unemployed for two months.
The high-profile academic and intelligence expert says he has lost his income and has filed an appeal against his dismissal.
Buchanan said some of his speaking engagements had been cancelled as a result of the row with the university, which sacked him in July after he sent a blunt email to a student, refusing an assignment extension.
He said he had visited Work and Income New Zealand to apply for the dole, but gave up on it because the $178 a week was "not worth my while" and he thought the questioning too intrusive.
Buchanan said he had to attend a Winz work seminar "with some other men who looked like they had been on the drink for many years".
The seminar turned into a farce when he described his work experience as a former CIA adviser in Latin America and the other applicants recognised him from television coverage.
"The Winz person said to me 'Are you sure you should be here?' But I've got to get on with my life. Material concerns are starting to mount up."
Buchanan was sacked from the university's political science department after sending a strongly worded email to United Arab Emirates student Asma Al Yammahi, who requested an assignment extension, saying her father had died.
In the email Buchanan said: "I say this reluctantly but not so subtly: you are not suitable for a graduate degree. It does not matter if your father died or if you have a medical certificate. You are close to failing in any event, so these sort of excuses - culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt - are simply lame." He later apologised for what he described as his "temper tantrum".
Buchanan said he had received death threats over the controversy.
"I got a lot of crazy responses from a number of people. I discovered how many people completely ignorant of the case were willing to voice an opinion on it and willing to psycho-analyse me.
"I served as a lightning rod, opening up all these political agendas. And most of the people who hate me are from the Left. It's been interesting."
Buchanan said he would have to emigrate if he did not win his appeal for unjustified dismissal.
"If I am not reinstated my career is over," he said.
"I may be unemployable by other universities in New Zealand. They wouldn't touch me with a barge pole ... I would have to look abroad to stay in employment.
"Before, I was determined to retire here. I now find that particular dream more difficult to achieve."
Buchanan said he had asked for urgent mediation on his case. He believed he still had the support of most of the political science staff at Auckland University, but did not know if he had a future there.
"I am prepared to work with anybody.
"If I get reinstated in court, perhaps my name will not be mud."
A spokeswoman for Auckland University told the Herald on Sunday the Buchanan case was being dealt with through the appropriate legal avenues. "We don't wish to negotiate via the media," she said.
