Maori and Student Debt Tariana Turia, Co-leader, Maori Party
‘The announcement that Maori students now owe more than $1billion in student loans is of great concern to the Maori
Party’ said Tariana Turia, co-leader of the Maori Party.
The Mâori Party acknowledges the unacceptable levels of student debt and is committed to addressing the burden of debt
on students and their whanau.
‘We are delighted to be working with Te Mana Akonga, National Maori Tertiary Students Association, to discuss workable
solutions for a situation of such national significance’.
‘The crisis of financial burden placed on Maori students and their whanau must be faced by policy makers, politicians
and planners, if we are serious about their future in our nation’ said Mrs Turia.
‘Front-end investment in tertiary education should enable tangata whenua to continue to achieve high standards of
scholarship and intellectual endeavour without being saddled with a life long liability to the state’.
‘To this end, we welcomed the initiative by Te Mana Akonga, to hold a Maori Student Debt Summit today and we will be
pleased to work together with other political parties, to discuss debt solutions’ said Mrs Turia today.
MÄORI PARTY
Education Policy
1.0 The proposition
We assume that:
As a Country we seek to achieve and maintain for all of our citizens the highest achievable level of wellbeing in all of
its aspects;
The Nation is particularly mindful of the wellbeing of the more vulnerable of the two signatories to Te Tiriti o
Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, namely, the tangata whenua of this Land;
The tangata whenua are determined to survive and prosper as a people and fulfil their obligations to all of the other
citizens of this Country;
As a Nation we seek to be a respected member of the international community.
We believe that
1.5 The better informed and educated are our citizens the higher our chances of fulfilling the Nation’s aspirations.
The Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi
This document traces its whakapapa from He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni/The Declaration of Independence,
an understanding consummated in 1835 between King William VI and Mäori, particularly those representing the northern
parts of Te Ika a Mäui. It was in the nature of a nation-to-nation arrangement. Subsequently, in 1840, a partnership
between kawanatanga and tino rangatiratanga was agreed between the Crown and the Tangata Whenua.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi embodies the principles of two sets of cultural development based on the two
signatories, partnership between kawanatanga and tino rangatiratanga and equality of rights and privileges between the
citizens associated with the two signatories.
The educational policies of the Mäori Party anticipate the full expression of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of
Waitangi.
On education and wellbeing
For the citizens of this Country, being well informed and educated, will include being able to
articulate our aspirations as a Nation and the respective roles of the tangata whenua and of all other citizens in the
fulfilment of these;
interpret and explain the Nation’s evolving understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi and of its
distinctive contribution to our affairs; and,
grow in their understanding of themselves and continue to fulfil the promises and principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The
Treaty of Waitangi in the midst of changing circumstances within and beyond our shores.
To maximise their contribution to the comprehensive wellbeing of the Nation, our citizens will engage with global
intellectual activity in all its forms and locations.
As a Nation we look to having education policies that are
designed to maximise the benefits to the Nation of the resources committed to education; and
As a Nation we demonstrate our willingness to share
intellectual property including systems, content and methodologies that will result in this Country optimising the
benefits for the Nation of resources committed to education.
4.0 Educational policies:
4.1 That educational programmes in all fields and at all levels provide for the expression of the values of this
Nation, including kaupapa Mäori.
That educational programmes take every opportunity to express the
centrality of the whänau in the wellbeing of the Nation.
4.21 That high quality education programmes in whänau settings for the young to the elderly, through electronic and
other means, become commonplace in homes and in other whänau arrangements with local responsibility across all cultural
and ethnic groups.
4.3 That our educational programmes are available within cultural and
ethnic contexts (including content and methodologies) that facilitate high quality teaching and learning;
That high quality educational programmes in all fields and at
all levels are available within kaupapa and tikanga Mäori;
4.311 That röpü tuku iho (whänau, hapü and iwi) be
acknowledged as potential providers of high quality and distinctive educational programmes within kaupapa and tikanga
Mäori; that the potential of marae to be centres of learning where they are the authorities be recognised;
That high quality educational programmes in all fields and at
all levels are available within arrangements that give expression
to the preferences of the participant community and that reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of our Nation
That our educational programmes be funded in ways that are consistent
with Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi
That educational programmes that are designed and delivered
to actively protect the taonga under Article 2 of the Tiriti/Treaty be available at no cost to participants and that
participants be assisted to pursue these programmes;
That in addition to a universal study allowance, scholarships be
made available to limit the level of student debt to its present level;
That repayment of student debt be set at 10 percent of the
excess of a person’s income over 150 percent of the average income of those employed;
4.45 That a period of grace of five years after a person’s income reaches 150 percent of the average income of those
employed be introduced; and
That interest on existing student debt be waived.
4.5 That the organisational arrangements for the implementation of
educational policies be designed to be consistent with the expression to Te Tiriti/The Treaty
4.51 That kaupapa and tikanga driven bodies of the now less numerous partner to the Tiriti/Treaty be prominent in
the design and implementation of educational policies
4.6 That educational programmes that provide for lifelong learning, including for the nourishment of those whose
potential is wholly or partially untapped, be accessible around the Country under arrangements that are consistent with
the Tiriti/Treaty.
4.61 That educational programmes designed to increase the productivity of land and other tangible assets and of
intellectual property be accessible around the Nation under arrangements that are consistent with the Tiriti/Treaty.
4.7 That research funding allocations from the public purse be consistent
with the Treaty/Tiriti;
That kaupapa and tikanga driven bodies of the now less numerous signatory to the Tiriti/Treaty be prominent in
the determination of research priorities and in the selection of research projects to be funded;
4.711 That particular encouragement be given to theoretical and empirical research into mätauranga tuku iho including
kaupapa (manaakitanga, rangatiratanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, wairuatanga, mana whenua, kaitiakitanga, mana
tupuna/whakapapa and te reo Mäori) and the tikanga that derive from these (including policies, practices an
organisational arrangements)
4.72 That within a period of five years the proportion of the Nation’s contribution to research from the public purse
to the broadening and deeping of the mätauranga continuum of the less numerous signatory to the Tiriti/Treaty be
determined by the proportion of the population represented by the tangata whenua signatory to the Treaty plus provision
for the under-funding of this partner in recent years.
Mäori Party
6 December 2004