Paul Thomas: Race politics need careful attention once and for all

Maori co-leader Tariana Turia, left and Prime Minister John Key. Photo / NZPA

At first blush, Tariana Turia's declaration that she's tired of "the politics of race" seems a bit rich coming from the co-leader of a party which defines itself in explicitly racial terms and whose preoccupations are almost exclusively Maori-related.

Turia was reacting to Prime Minister John Key's abrupt canning of Tuhoe's bid to win ownership of Te Urewera National Park. I assume what she regards as the politics of race are, first, the claims that the Maori Party tail is wagging the National dog and the Government is "giving away the farm" and, secondly, Key's obvious determination to stop these perceptions gaining traction. Quite how she categorises his lamentable "cannibal" joke is anyone's guess.

Turia might well argue that, like the Waitangi Tribunal process, her party is a catalyst for ending the politics of race in this country once and for all. Only when we have resolved grievances arising from the fact that the Treaty of Waitangi was more honoured in the breach than in the observance and forged a genuine, mutually respectful partnership will we have harmonious race relations based on shared national identity.

Whether the Maori Party actually sees itself that way is another matter. Political parties tend not to think in terms of built-in obsolescence.

A more likely goal is to establish a permanent position of influence in the political landscape. It's also possible that hard-won gains will only whet the appetite, thus feeding the slightly paranoid mindset among a section of the community that the more we give them, the more they want.

Co-leader Dr Pita Sharples' call for a Maori team to take part in the 2015 Rugby World Cup is a case in point. You could almost hear the cries of: "Where will it end?" Will Sir Edmund Hillary's status as our unofficial national hero eventually be called into question because he got to the summit of Mt Everest with a Sherpa rather than not a Maori? There's a heavy responsibility on all our leaders to get this right, otherwise the politics of race will sour our national discourse for a long time to come.

* The week's other intriguing quote came from 86-year-old US investment wizard Charlie Munger, the less well-known and considerably poorer (a mere $2.3 billion as opposed to $65 billion) partner of the world's third-richest man, Warren Buffett.

Although Buffett is known as "the Sage of Omaha", Munger himself is no slouch when it comes to dispensing pithy wisdom.

His take on the Nightmare on Wall Street: "When the tiger gets out and starts creating damage, it's insane to blame the tiger - it's the idiot tiger-keeper."

In other words, don't be surprised when hard-charging financial giants such as Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs behave in a reckless and reprehensible manner because it's in their DNA. It's up to the regulatory authorities to keep them under control.

Coming from such a source, this comparison between investment banks and wild beasts is instructive, to say the least. If these firms have no self-restraint, moral code, social awareness or sense of responsibility, then the very notion of self-regulation is preposterous. And whereas the advocates of hyper-capitalism argue that all forms of regulation breed inefficiency and inhibit wealth creation, Munger seems to be saying that capitalism cannot be trusted with freedom, since without government oversight it will run amok and ultimately fail.

At a recent annual general meeting, Munger offered a piece of advice that should be prominently displayed in every annual report, prospectus and advertisement for an investment product: "When any guy offers you a chance to earn lots of money without risk, don't listen to the rest of the sentence."

* With the death this week of celebrated political columnist Alan Watkins, the institution that was Fleet Street recedes a little further into legend.

Watkins spent a good portion of his working life in the Street of Shame's watering holes. His essay on the subject in Stephen Glover's book Secrets of the Press (which includes a chapter entitled 'How to claim a camel on expenses') combines magisterial authority with forensic detail and the natural story-teller's ear for the revealing anecdote.

The Sunday Express' Sir John Junor, a notorious bully, was one of the few editors who imposed restrictions on his staff's imbibing. After spotting a senior writer in the pub earlier than he should have been, Junor subjected him to a protracted dressing-down.

When Junor finally paused for breath the journalist, a former soldier and holder of the Military Cross, delivered the deadly riposte: "I've shot better men than you."