I was astonished to read the letter, sent by your correspondent Robin Bell of Omanawa in the 23 August edition of the Sun.

Apart from his appalling ignorance of the aims and ambitions of Hobson's Pledge - as the single voice of reason arguing that all New Zealanders are entitled to equal citizenship - he accuses that organisation of being "distinctly anti-Maori".

I know of nothing that Hobson's Pledge has said or done, which would justify this assertion.

How he can baldly state that "Maori have not been assisted in reasserting their fundamental rights" given the multi-billion dollar Treaty settlements paid out by successive governments over the last 30 years. This beggars belief and suggests he is the true racist.

These settlements, made in some cases despite earlier settlements intended to be "full and final", have been made absolutely exclusively to Maori.

None of us, Maori or non-Maori, were there when the alleged offences were said to have occurred, so there must be a limit to the extent of which today's innocent citizens can be expected to pay in compensation for any injustice that may or may not have occurred.

I am firmly of the opinion that as soon as the present round of Treaty settlements has been finished, a line should be drawn under the past so that we can all move into the future as New Zealanders, no matter when we, or our ancestors, arrived in this beautiful country.

D J Bennett, Bethlehem