Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy is calling on the writer of an anonymous chain letter sent to a Northland man attacking Maori to front up and join a national conversation on race relations.
The photocopied letter was received by Bay of Islands man Harko Brown and addressed to "all the politicians".
It included a copy of a Bob Jones column from the New Zealand Herald describing the businessman's dealings with Auckland Council's iwi consultation rules, the sender saying it had "shown you lot up for the conniving, power at all costs, miserable self-serving bunch you truly are ... Just wait till the public wake up. It will be everything you deserve". In a handwritten addition the sender wrote, "You sound as if you could be a Maori."
Also included was a statement headlined "Maori privilege", complaining of reverse racism and accusing Prime Minister John Key and Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson of bringing in ever more race-based legislation; and a four-page document typed in capital letters and called "The real truth of the Treaty of Waitangi".
Dame Susan said it was impossible to discuss issues, debate views or even engage with anonymous critics. "Next year we will be embarking on a national conversation on race relations and instead of sending nameless chain letters, anonymous critics need to come along and take part," she said.
Mr Brown, an expert on Maori traditional sports whose only foray into politics was a term as a community board member, said he was not upset by the letter but concerned about its style of electioneering.
It was posted before the general election but only arrived this week because Mr Brown had moved house.
He wondered if the "dirty politics" revealed in the run-up to the election had given other people ideas, and hoped for a return to debate that was conducted transparently and honestly, "not this devious, anonymous stuff".
He wanted to know if others had received the same letter. The writer urges the recipient to hand it on and states that anyone who does not is "part of the problem".
The letter does not suggest who the reader should vote for and is as critical of National as it is of Maori and Treaty of Waitangi claims.
"If the reader is a National supporter, they may like to consider that they are part of the problem, because, in fact, they have done nothing to slow down, or stop, this increasing browning of New Zealand," the letter states.
A spokeswoman for NZ Post said the company would not ordinarily try to trace a letter's origin without an official complaint via the police. Anyone who was concerned or uncomfortable about mail they had received should look to the Postal Services Act and lodge a complaint, she said.
• Have you received a letter like this? Call (09) 407 3287 or email peter.degraaf@northernadvocate.co.nz