Re: ‘Maori do need race-based policies' (The Weekend Sun, November 4). M Leabourn's letter in which he alleges the Government does not make special provisions for Maori ‘needs'. I would like to know what are the special needs of part-Maori today? We all need houses, food, clothing, education and healthcare, which is available to all. When Charles Darwin visited these shores in The Beagle, he wrote the land was barren, the natives hostile, and they lived in hovels. After Maori took over the land from those already here, just what did they do to improve the quality of life? Actually nothing, for they stripped the land of trees, and ate nearly everything that walked or flew, including the 12 species of moa. Conservationists they were not, luckily colonists have since done their upmost to restore many species. We know inter-tribal fighting, cannibalism and slavery were rife, but if it was such a wonderful culture and lifestyle why did Maori leaders first beg King William, and then Queen Victoria, to send troops to put an end to the looming extinction of Maori, especially after the Musket Wars. If Maori want to participate in government then let them put candidates forward for election. It is ludicrous to suggest the 18 per cent part-Maori be given co-governance and it is up to them to be elected like everyone else. We are one nation.

M Brooks, Tauranga City.