Brash denies extremism on race issue

National leader Don Brash admits that before the election he may have failed to be clear enough about his respect for Maori and his multicultural views.

Dr Brash contacted the Herald yesterday to praise a speech on race relations given by his predecessor Bill English at Auckland University on Monday, reported by the Herald.

But he took umbrage at any suggestion Mr English was more moderate on the subject than himself, saying he had endorsed the stance the party adopted while Mr English was leader - including abolition of the Maori seats and use of the phrase "one law for all".

Dr Brash conceded that a perception he had a "monocultural assimilationist view" appeared to exist in some quarters, but said it was not true.

Asked if he would do anything differently if campaigning on the issue again, he said: "I might have tried harder to make it clear that I wasn't advocating a monocultural society. I mean, I could hardly advocate a monocultural society, my wife's not European.

"I don't retreat at all from the positions we announced at Orewa but certainly don't want that interpreted as Don Brash favouring an all-European cultural environment, because I don't."

If people had the impression he did not acknowledge a distinct Maori identity: "Then I failed to explain what I was meaning, because clearly I have complete respect for other cultures.

"I don't want to have a uniform, homogeneous approach to New Zealand culture but I think it's important that all of us have equal rights under the law."

Dr Brash's sensitivity will have been compounded by recent criticism - inside and outside National - that his rigid position on race and other issues may have affected his election chances and stymied his future leadership prospects.

Now National has regained the solid support of the centre-right, there is also likely to be a renewed push from some in his caucus to court the support of centrist voters.

National Party historian Barry Gustafson, who attended the speech, has contrasted Dr Brash's stance with those of a number of "pragmatic conservative" National MPs, including Mr English.

He said yesterday that Dr Brash's Orewa speech was little different in content than those given under Mr English's leadership.

But he said Dr Brash's delivery was different and he tended to see such issues in "black and white", while Mr English appreciated the social and political complexities and sought to present a context.

The difference was that Mr English was looking for a "more consensual resolution" than Dr Brash.

The National leader's starker and simpler portrayal of the issue, like National's "iwi/kiwi" billboards, had provided the public with more pegs on which to hang their own impressions, he said.

In his speech Mr English called for less focus on the Treaty of Waitangi and a better look at distinct Maori and Pakeha traditions which had shaped views on the debate, which he said would foster understanding and respect.

Dr Brash said it was a "first class piece of analysis".