Wananga must be held to account, Cullen says

Michael Cullen

The Government says it will continue to hold Te Wananga o Aotearoa to account for the taxpayer money it spends, despite being told by the Waitangi Tribunal it has breached the Treaty in its dealing with the tertiary education provider.

The tribunal, in a report released on Friday, said the Crown broke its treaty obligations by trying to restrict the wananga's range of courses, and by failing to conclude a process for resolving disputes.

The Aotearoa Institute, which founded the wananga and laid the claim with the tribunal, hailed the report and called on the Government to acknowledge its findings and rectify the treaty breaches.

But Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen said the tribunal had underestimated "systemic governance and management failures" identified by the recent Auditor-General's inquiry and the Government's responsibility for the millions of taxpayer dollars the wananga spent.

"The problems raised by the Auditor-General must be addressed," he said.

"This is not a small social service provider where some lenience may be appropriate.

"It is a large, publicly-funded tertiary education provider with responsibilities to both the taxpayer and to its students."

Dr Cullen said the wananga had to be held accountable for the large sums of money it received.

Last week, the wananga's chief executive, Rongo Wetere, announced his retirement after the Auditor-General reported that contracts worth millions of dollars were awarded to members of his family and that he kept poor records of expensive overseas travel.

Those problems, coupled with the wananga's rapid expansion in non-degree certificate and diploma courses, have concerned the Government for some time.

In February it appointed Crown manager Brian Roche to take over the wananga's financial responsibilities, and since then it has been locked in a struggle for control of the institution.

Dr Cullen said that when the wananga's full council was in place, the Government would discuss "the basis for an ongoing relationship".

- NZPA