Media release
Newmarket Business Association
Thursday, 18 June 2009

Business says open uni policy would disadvantage Maori jobseekers

A head of a key Auckland business association says Maori Affairs and Associate Education Minister Pita Sharples' call for Maori to have open entry to university would only work against Maori graduates looking for work.

"If an employer is looking at two job applicants - one got to university on academic merit and the other didn't, the choice is pretty obvious," says Cameron Brewer, head of the Newmarket Business Association.

"It would effectively create a two-tier system of graduates in the eyes of employers - Maori and non-Maori. What's more for those many Maori who had got to university through hard work, it only would devalue their qualification. They'd be naturally perceived as part of the quota.

"For any Maori graduate looking for work having every employer know that Maori got free entry to university would disadvantage their chances of being employed," says Cameron Brewer.

ENDS