It seems the battle between Tommy Kapai and his adversaries is heating up a little. In the interests of fair play I would like to express a little solidarity with Mr Kapai.
I would first like to address the rather shallow attempt by Mike Kuipers von Lande, to cast doubt on the documented degradation of the Maori race over generations. If he is any doubt as to the effect of the invasion of this country and its people by the greedy, imperialistic British forces quickly followed by equally greedy colonists who defrauded the incumbents of most of their land, just read the transcripts of the current settlements. You sir, seem to be obsessed with the idea that you and the Pakeha majority are racially oppressed and endure the fate of the ‘beast of burden'. All I can say to you is that if the cap fits, wear it. Although as you place the cap on your head take off your blinkers, you may just see a society to be proud of.
To Mary Brookes, I would respectfully ask you to get your facts right before you make your outrageous claims. Your claim that there is no ‘trickle down' of settlement money is patently untrue. My eldest granddaughter now has a teaching degree thanks in no small part to a grant from her iwi. Happy Granddaughter. No doubt, that will touch a nerve with you. Although think of it this way for a minute before you go firing off about Maori privilege. The money involved - many thousands of dollars, paid to the iwi for compensation for stolen lands etc. Happy Iwi. The money was then transferred to the university involved by way of course fees. Happy University. No doubt they used the money for such things as salaries. Happy tutors. So now Mary, the money is back in circulation. During its journey of course the good old IRD gets its fair share. Happy IRD. This is repeated constantly throughout NZ.
May, you seem to be put out by Tommy calling you racist. I'm not sure it's racist, but you sure as hell are prejudiced against Maori. Honestly! Is it any wonder Tommy thinks you're racist? You mention Maori almost 20 times in your letter, not once in a positive way.
To Tommy Kapai, keep up the good fight, you don't need me to tell you this is a fight that must be fought, better by pen than the patu.
To D. Gordon, you should get over your prejudice. Polynesian sea farers travelled and conquered the largest ocean on earth when your people were paddling around in their oracles still believing the world was flat.

Robin Bell, Omanawa.