Amid the bouquets and brickbats that have accompanied the retirement of John Key, those who have been most effusive in praise of his personal qualities and political acumen have not reflected on some aspects of his leadership that are not so laudatory. His broken electoral promise to remove the Maori Electoral seats, his delegating decision-making on unpopular issues such as the Resource management Act, the iwi water issue, his reluctance to accept that the population comprehensively rejected non-elected Maori being appointed to councils, his unequivocal acceptance of most Waitangi Tribunal's directives, valid or not. His silence on the spurious claim that the Treaty represents a partnership of the Crown with Maori, the adoption of The Foreshore and Seabed Act giving much of the control of our coastline to Iwi. His placing the Maori Party - with 1.5 per cent of the electoral vote - above the needs of the whole population. He's shown his consummate ability in handling difficult problems by ignoring their existence. A Teflon Man indeed. But no doubt his successor will continue his party's racist policies.

B Johnson, Omokoroa.