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Te Apaarangi has announced they will not be funding
the Maori research unit Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga after 2015.
At the beginning of the week,
news of the decision reached Auckland University,
the home of the research programme.
Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga
is the only programme they are running
under Te Puna Rangahau.
We'll now cross live to Peata Melbourne.
Peata, you've been following this issue
since the start of the week.
What have you found out?
Yesterday, the office of the Maori Affairs Minister
released a statement to demand
that the ostracising of Maori research programmes
needs to stop.
Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga is concerned with research programmes
to gain information on Maori issues.
The programme receives around $6m annually from the government
to go towards their work.
The programme has been going for 12 years now,
but it's looking like next year will be their last.
A dark cloud has settled over Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga.
NZ will be losing out.
It won't just be Maori,
it's a loss for the whole country.
$275 million a year is funded by the government
in tertiary education research.
The Centre of Research Excellence is an elite $30 million fund
that sits on top of that.
We attempted to get an interview with Auckland University
who host the unit,
but to no avail.
However, the Vice Chancellor said in a written statement
they're disappointed in light of the fact
their previous annual reports have all been accepted by the TEC.
And because they've had no feedback on the reasons for these decisions,
they're finding it all difficult to understand.
The society that makes up that committee
is all Pakeha.
They don't understand the importance of researchers in Maoridom.
They don't understand the steps that must be taken
to benefit an iwi.
Their expertise is only scientific.
Next month, the final decision will be released.
It seems Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga has been well and truly ousted.
What now?
No matter what Te Apaarangi, or TEC, decides,
education experts are still discussing the issue
to keep the programme alive, Oriini.
Thank you, Peata Melbourne, live in our Auckland newsroom.