Wananga awaits word on hearing

The parent body of Te Wananga o Aotearoa must wait a week to learn whether the Waitangi Tribunal will hold an urgent hearing into allegations that the Government has breached a Treaty settlement.

Tribunal Judge Stephanie Milroy said submissions would be considered, with a decision expected in about a week.

Lawyer Mai Chen, acting for the Aotearoa Institute, a charitable trust and former private training establishment from which Te Wananga o Aotearoa developed, said an urgent hearing was necessary as the Crown had taken effective control of the wananga.

Ms Chen said the Government held the majority on the "illegally constituted council", recently reduced from 11 members to five. It also had full control of the wananga's finances through the appointment of a Crown manager.

The wananga "has already been cut off from the iwi and communities that created it - they no longer have any say in its future development".

She said the Government planned to turn the wananga into "a reduced and Maori-only institution".

The institute sought a hearing with the tribunal to force the Crown to "restore to Maori the right to exercise tino rangatiratanga over their taonga", said Ms Chen.

The claimants want payment of a $20 million suspensory loan, part of a 1998 Treaty settlement, and compensation for losses suffered due to negative publicity driven by the Government.

Ms Chen said the tribunal was the only avenue left for the institute to challenge the Government's moves.

Crown Law Office representative Virginia Hardy said an Auditor-General's report that was recently released in draft form covered many of the concerns raised by the claim.

"It is hard to envisage a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the suspensory loan and appointment of a Crown observer and manager, which would not in many respects overlap the Auditor-General inquiry."

She said having two inquiries running would be a "waste of taxpayer money".

Ms Hardy was also critical of suggestions that the claim required urgency because of a "cash crisis" at the wananga.

She said the wananga's financial predicament was a result of spending more than it was earning - despite declining enrolments.

Recent governance and management changes and the appointment of a Crown manager had been pivotal to arresting some of the financial pressures.

She said a failure to agree on performance measures was the basis for non-payment of the $20 million suspensory loan, with discussions ongoing.

Ms Hardy appeared to suggest the Government was backing away from plans to push for an 80 per cent Maori student policy.

"The 80 per cent ratio was an indicator only and not a quota. The figure was one reached with the full consent of the wananga at the time of settlement."

She said proposals under discussion between the wananga and the Crown over a charter had a goal of the proportion of Maori students being between 65 and 75 per cent of the roll.