And Waitangi Day rolls around again...

This time last year I vented on the bullshit of cultural sensitivity and then extended that into a book review of Claudia Orange's book "The Treaty of Waitangi".

Well it is that time of year again. The last 12 months of race relations in NZ have continued on, much as they have in the last 200 years.

Maori still seek lollies and handouts from the dominant power, as it has always been, and the lollies continue to rot their teeth.

The latest annoyance is the "gift" of the volcanic cones of Auckland; sure, not much changes apparently, just the management regime. Yeah right, the names will all change so will the signposts, and soon. The cone that troubles me most, not because I am particularly attached to it, but primarily because I am a strong believer in property rights, is One Tree Hill.

This wonderful park and the hill were donated to "the people of Auckland" by Sir John Logan Campbell. It was his family's farm. His family made a private donation, and would it not be appropriate to take into account the terms of his bequest before dealing with the asset in this way?

Why do I say handing out money to Maori, as we are continuing to do, will cause them harm? Simple really: the money isn't helping their people but rather building an economic elite within their people which progressively will cause internal dissent and division.

Look, nothing changes, our forebears gave them lollies in the 1820s, guns and booze, and it surely killed them off in droves. Copious volumes of cash that will cause social divisions among their people will surely do the same over time.

I published - in a series - a talk I did to a group of Maori leaders the year before last, and I did another one early this year. Late last year I attended a ceremony at Auckland University. I think I will disclose some stuff about each as it underlines some of the issues Maori have and the rest of us will eventually have too.

It also illustrates how different each individual Maori is, how generous and warm some are and how misguided and pig-ignorant and arrogant others are. And much of what we do feeds the latter group to the degradation of the former. The university story will underline how we are institutionalising the latter.

At the first talk in Wellington I sat through two other addresses. The first was on Maori language; it was presented well with an interesting message. But the take-home message was that Maori language is of world significance and that wherever possible the language should be used. To a point fine, but he then went on to explain that it was a significant language of business.

What rot. So the first part of my speech changed to in essence say the global language of business is English so don't give up on English. While quant and important for tourism etc, Maori language is irrelevant outside NZ. But don't be offended - so is Gaelic and other ethnic languages.

An elder then asked a question. He was incredibly polite, as were the entire audience. Not one single member of this group took offence at anything I said, at least based on the subsequent feedback, and all were prepared to discuss my views openly. I try to run interactive discussions and afterward a number openly agreed with the sentiments I expressed. A more charming group of people you would not meet.

Anyway back to the question. He said: "Bruce, do you accept communication goes beyond oral and written language?" "Of course," I answered. "Do you accept, Bruce, that mannerisms, body language and cultural nuances are important in communication?" "Well of course."

"Do you accept, Bruce, that Maori mannerisms have more in common with Asian communication methods than European?" I had to think about that for a while, but eventually agreed.

He then closed by saying: "So why do you say Maori language is not important in the context of global business?" Good point! Simple, I say, when all the posturing is done and you get an order and a contract it will be written in English. He then pauses and says "Okay, we shouldn't give up on English."

After my talk they had the horrible Parekura Horomia, the then minister of Maori affairs. My talk had started on the premise of one nation, one people, develop an inclusive approach and Maori can lead. Horrible Horomia's speech was about demographics. Maori are out-breeding the rest of us and he pointed out that very soon Maori will be over 50 per cent of the population. Therefore they will again dominate our shores.

He talked complete separation and self-determination. Sounded like treason to me, especially from a minister of the Crown. Prior to the substance of his talk, and as such people are prone to do, he had ministry officials hand out his whakapapa (family tree) and proceeded for around 20 minutes to read out his Maori lineage, conveniently ignoring all the European names on it.

When I saw one that looked like it might be on my family tree too, I said loudly from the back of the room: "Horomia, we are cousins...." He stopped but I guess he still didn't get the point that you can't actually separate out Maori anymore because as a pure bloodline they don't exist.

This conference was coordinated by a guy called Buddy - I might add, the best conference organiser I have come across. Same guy who harpooned and exposed a certain Harawira.

At lunch one beautiful older woman, with a large moko, came and rubbed noises with me and said: "Bruce, you are right. The only future we will have is with all other New Zealanders. Separation and a continuation of the handout and benefit regime will destroy our people. But Bruce, I can't lead my people to this. If I try to sell your message, they will kill me."

The talk last year in Napier was to another group of Maori on economic development, and likewise the group was a wonderful group of people. I, however, was derailed again as I was picked up in a Bentley from the airport, which really annoyed me as it could only have been paid for with handouts from us taxpayers and I said as much. I was wrong, by the way: Napier has a very interesting hotel with very interesting complimentary cars and it was off the beaten track and inexpensive.

The purpose of sharing these observations with you is to underline the stark difference between individuals and the stark difference existing between political views of the issues confronting Maori, plus the beliefs of Maori themselves and the difficulties they have in leading their people who have been corrupted by the lollies of dependency and welfare.

Now to the university.

As is usual at the end of a course of work, there is a graduation ceremony. In the school of human sciences they go a step further and prior to graduation they have a ceremony to celebrate the passing of the final year. At this all graduates receive certificates and move out into their professions.

I attended one of these last year. As is usual I expected at least one waiata in the course of the celebration of the kids. The kids were split between Polynesians, some possible Maori and a lot of Asians, some Europeans and a mixture of Arabs and Indians. So the usual microcosm of NZ today.

The parents and family of the students were in attendance, around 100 students and maybe 250 guests, of whom I suspect fewer than 50 had any idea of Maori customs and maybe 10 in total spoke Maori, but who knows.

As the staff moved in, there was one large Maori woman with a particularly condescending and arrogant look among them. Full moko, very proud. Guess what? She is the chair and lecturer on issues as they affect Maori in the courses run in this faculty. For Christ's sake, everyone's plumbing is the same and do Maori really have any unique issues? Apparently so, as they have degrees now in Maori medicine, Maori nursing etc. God knows what that is.

Anyway waiata one is performed and then a short talk is had, in English, then another waiata, no fewer than three sessions of wailing.

But wait, there is more. The guest speaker was a Maori surgeon. Fine. He spoke for over 30 minutes in Maori with no translations, no subtitles on the screen and no break. By the end of it the audience was pretty unsettled. He then - in English for 30 seconds - did a translation. I don't think so.

The arrogance of the university and this man was incredible. What does it tell us though? That the government-funded institutions of NZ are embedding in their bodies a regime that is giving Maori a licence to unjustified and unsustainable arrogance. Or is it just payback because Maori for the last 150 years have been subject to the same abuse from us?

Whatever, things are changing and resentments are building because much of what is happening defies common sense, common decency and is downright counter to the interests of NZ. Enjoy the telecasts this weekend of John Key brown-nosing.