An ACT MP who has drafted a member’s bill against any university policies targeting Māori and Pasifika students struggled to name any such policies in an interview with Te Ao Māori News.

ACT tertiary education spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar says university policies targeted at Māori and Pasifika students are unfair.

When asked if she could name five such policies, the MP, who immigrated to Aotearoa in 1995, struggled to name one.

“So there are a number of ways universities allocate resources on the basis of race.

“There are scholarships, there are various course entrance schemes that are based on race.”

When pressed again to name one such policy, she continued to describe policies that benefit Māori and Pasifika students in health but stopped short of naming one.

One such programme is the Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS), which sought to lift Māori and Pasifika representation in the health workforce to 10 per cent by 2020.

“If you look at medical school entrances, there is a scheme where the students of Māori and Pacific ethnicity are seen differently when it comes to grade entrance.”

“We have seen that universities - including the University of Auckland - have separate spaces for Māori students.”

According to Dr Parmar, The Education and Training (Equal Training) Amendment Bill would ensure universities do not allocate resources, benefits, or opportunities based on race.

This follows a Cabinet directive from last year to establish a public service based on need not race, which Public Service Minister Nicola Willis stated was “a direct result of the coalition agreement” between National and ACT to form the government.

History of Aotearoa ‘particularly important’ for migrants

That caught the ire of the AUT Dean of Law, Khylee Quince, who took to social media to challenge the bill, with many criticising Quince’s post; Alternative headline: Immigrant Forgets Where She Lives.

“I made a comment on my personal Facebook page in which I alluded to the fact that it’s not lost on me, the irony that we have a wahine tauiwi - a migrant woman - who seems to forget where she has come from and where she has come to.”

“It’s one thing to have Pākehā say something about not wanting to understand, but for migrants, it’s particularly important.

Quince says the fact that Dr Parmar can’t name one of the programs shows where ACT’s true intention lies.

“What a farcical situation. This confirms that Dr Parmar’s private member’s bill is a solution looking for a problem.

“If the ACT Party truly believes those strategies are relevant to Aotearoa, they should be able to name the specific policies the Bill would affect.”

Dr Parmar says Quince’s comments are unfortunate.

“That shows that she has this attitude toward immigrants, that immigrants should not be allowed to hold a view on certain issues which actually is not good for the health of AUT for our education system.”

Me ako te hunga manene i te hītori o tēnei whenua

Nō tēnei tau tonu, kua tīmata ētahi o ngā whare wānanga o Aotearoa ki te whakatū karaehe, e ako ai ngā tauira whare wānanga ki te hītori o Aotearoa, Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te ahurea iwi taketake.

I te Maehe o tēnei tau, whakamānu ai ngā kaupapa me ako i ngā tauira whitū mano ki te whare wānanga o Waipapa Taumatarau, hei tā rātou, mā tēnei akoranga e ruirui ai ngā pūkenga mātauranga ki tā rātou kete.

Engari hei tā Parmar, kāore he hua o aua whakaakoranga ki ngā tauira ka rere atu ki tā wāhi, ki reira mahi ai.

“I do not think that this paper is relevant, I believe that this paper if it was optional would be better.”

E ai ki a Eru Kapa-Kingi, tētah rōia Māori i whiwhi i tana tohu rōia ki Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria ki Te Whanganui ā-Tara, ka tika me mātua ako ngā tauira katoa ki te hītori o tēnei whenua.

“Ehara i te mea ko ngā tauiwi anahe e kūare ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi - he tini ngā Pākehā kua roa i ēnei whenua, kāhore mō te tahuri ki te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

“Me tīmata pea ki reira - kia hakatauira ake ki ngā tauiwi e taetae mai ana, anei te mahi a te tangata tiriti i runga i ēnei whenua.”