In making their claim to the Waitangi Tribunal for added funds, the Kohanga Reo National Trust is giving a ‘koha' of $50,000 for someone to write up their own claim.

This of course will be a further claim on the taxpayer.

Surely they can find one of the tangata whenua willing to do it for free or does that contravene tribal protocols and derail the gravy train?

The trust at the April 13 weekend Ngaruawahia hui also set up strategies to modernise their activities and one decision agreed on by all was to exclude from their activities to all media outlets that raise questions.

This appears to include Maori Television's ‘Native Affairs' programme.

In the words of the Maori King spokesman Tukoirangi Morgan, who says: 'We make our own decisions on who we talk to”.

It would seem to some the Treaty did not bring the democratic concepts of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.

Bryan Johnson, Omokoroa.