Race based travel

ACT released:

ACT has obtained a copy of AUT’s policy for funding researcher travel, which allocates 30 percent more points to travel applications for researchers who identify as Māori, and 20 percent more for Pasifika.

“This policy will put some academics at a disadvantage relative to others, simply because they have the ‘wrong’ ancestry,” says ACT Tertiary Education and Skills spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar.

It is important to note this policy applies entirely on the ancestry of the staff member, and not on the topic. They could be a lecturer in mathematics, and they would get a 30% loading due to their ethnicity.

Another way of looking at this is that researchers who are European and Asian get a 23% penalty for their ancestry.