Racial divisions in New Zealand are being heightened by this Government. My colleague, Simon Power, recently issued a press statement setting out an appalling list of cases illustrating how this Government’s policies are intensifying racial divisiveness in the research field.
Otago University provided the most recent example when its Council voted (by 10 votes to 2) to require all research projects to be the subject of prior consultation with Ngai Tahu tribe.
He cited the research project at Lincoln University studying foot-rot in sheep that was denied funding because its Maori reference group felt “the outcomes for Maori need to be better targeted”. And a research project at Canterbury University into the growth of paua and crayfish was canned because it didn’t have strong enough Maori connections.
Just this month the Government announced that the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology is putting almost $2 million “to support research that is driven by the priorities identified by hapu, iwi and Maori organisations”.
Meanwhile, the Government has cut back sharply on the funding of soil science (crucial to our farming industry) and completely cut research on bees.
This defies sanity. Where is New Zealand heading? There is absolutely no basis whatsoever for preferring one racial group to another when allocating research money, or indeed for allocating anything else. We are all New Zealanders, equal before the law, whether we are Maori, European, Asian, or whatever.