Simon Power, Pita Sharples
4 October, 2010
Signing completes Wai 718 negotiations

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce and Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples have today signed a deed of settlement with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi that recognises the unique contribution it makes to tertiary education, and provides the wānanga with funding to develop its Whakatāne campus.

Mr Joyce says the agreement completes negotiations between the Crown and all three wānanga over the 1999 Waitangi Tribunal Wānanga Capital Establishment Report (Wai 718).

The Tribunal supported the claim that wānanga did not get capital funding from the Government equivalent to other public tertiary providers and, as a result, the three wānanga and their students were disadvantaged.

In settlement the Crown will pay Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi $14.5 million.

"This will contribute to the Whakatāne Campus Development project, including the building of a library, noho centre, a large lecture theatre, enrolment centre and academic registry, marketing and exhibition centre, site works and landscaping at the Whakatāne campus," says Mr Joyce.

"With this agreement, the Government recognises the unique contribution that Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi makes to tertiary education and that it has capital development needs and characteristics that are comparable to those of a university."

"In the 12 years since the Tribunal reported, Te Wānanga o Awanuiarangi has continued to develop its staff and its teaching programmes," says Dr Sharples.

"In 2004 the wānanga was accredited to teach courses to PhD level, which was a world first for an indigenous tertiary education institution," he says.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Te Wānanga o Raukawa settled their respective claims under Wai 718 in 2001 and 2008.

ENDS

© Scoop Media