Royal Society of New Zealand faces crisis of confidence

“Extraordinary meeting” called to deal with unrest

The Royal Society of New Zealand has called an “extraordinary meeting” after 70 of its fellows said they had “lost confidence” in the executive and council of the society.

In late March, the fellows wrote to chief executive Paul Atkins to express “deep concern” about how three society fellows had been treated. The three fellows were among seven academics who had published a letter in a magazine called The Listener in which they questioned the teaching of mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) as science in New Zealand schools.