John Armstrong: Open slather for minister of race relations

COMMENT

Sort it out, Trevor. And pronto.

The Prime Minister now entrusts Trevor Mallard with the task of saving her Government from going down the electoral plug-hole.

In appointing him yesterday to the new umbrella role of "Co-ordinating Minister, Race Relations", she has given him carte blanche to do whatever it takes to stop that happening.

It is no surprise she has chosen one of her most hard-nosed operators to strike the "new balance" in the handling of matters Maori - a balance weighted less in Maori favour which may prove to be the crucial difference between staying in office and being kicked out.

It is happy coincidence that Mr Mallard also happens to be a white, middle-aged male.

Few would accuse him of wearing the label of political correctness Don Brash has so successfully pinned on the wider Labour Party.

In essence, Mr Mallard's task is to stuff the Treaty of Waitangi back into Pandora's Box and shut the lid tight.

If that means upsetting Maori colleagues - and his appointment has done that - then, as far as Helen Clark is concerned, too bad.

Wary of annoying her sidelined Maori ministers and MPs any more than necessary, Helen Clark would use only generalities to outline the role of the country's first minister of race relations.

But forget any touchy-feely notion that this job has anything to do with promoting racial harmony.

Assisted by a hand-picked team of top-level bureaucrats, Mr Mallard will poke his nose into other ministers' portfolios to start dispelling the aura of mystery surrounding the treaty and start eradicating the perception there is a Government-generated treaty "industry".

Picking her words carefully, Helen Clark said Mr Mallard would be taking a "helicopter view" of Government policies affecting Maori.

More like helicopter gunship.

He will not just conduct a wide-ranging review of programmes targeted specifically at Maori, blitzing those considered no longer to be meeting social needs.

That is the least of it. Mr Mallard will also be responsible for "general issues" concerning the treaty, such as references to treaty "principles" contained in legislation. That catch-all job definition will help him counter the notion that Labour has had a secret agenda to bolster the treaty's influence.

The Prime Minister yesterday finally acknowledged that there was no clear ministerial responsibility for assessing the impact the treaty is having on the country's laws.

It is this drift into uncertainty that many non-Maori feel is giving preference to Maori, leaving non-Maori feeling like strangers in their own land.

Mr Mallard wants to head Dr Brash off at the pass, saying he, too, would remove treaty references where they served no identifiable purpose.

In short, while Dr Brash may have scratched an itch, Labour is now hell-bent on removing that itch. At any cost.

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