March 29, 2021
Regrets voiced about Unitec merger
The daughter of the late Sir John Turei says she’s heartened by statements from the board and management of the combined Unitec and Manukau Institute of Technology that they wished they could turn the clock back over the merger process.
Tui Ah Loo removed her father’s portrait from the Unitec boardroom in a dispute over what the whānau and Unitec Māori staff saw as a diminishing of Māori status in the merged entity.
She attended a hui on Friday between staff and management facilitated by Wayne Ngata and Tunuiarangi McLean to whakawātea or clear the air.
Staff and family accepted an apology from the management and the board for the offence and harm caused.
Ms Ah Loo says it was in contrast with when the former Unitec rūnanga talked with management before the merger.
"We felt we were being looked at but weren't seen, that people were listening but not hearing, and what Iand haring and seeing now from the deputy chair is he wished he could have turned the clock back because they didn't know what they know now," she says.
Tui Ah Loo says tauiwi are constantly learning off Māori, and Māori shouldn’t always be having to teach the system how to behave or be responsive.
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