National to strip treaty references from public servant jobs

Don Brash

A National government would strip references to "vague" Treaty of Waitangi principles from public service contracts, leader Don Brash has pledged.

Dr Brash told a business lunch in Auckland that knowledge of the treaty and its "supposed" principles would not be a condition of employment.

"We know that almost every advertisement for a job in a government department still includes words noting that the department has a 'commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi', though without the slightest explanation of what that might mean," Dr Brash said.

"Of course those public servants working to resolve treaty settlements need to have some understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi but there is surely no need whatsoever for other public servants, or for school teachers, or for nurses, or for auditors-general, to subscribe to a particular view of what the treaty implies."

National would adopt a "less exotic" approach to recruiting public servants; it would seek auditors who could audit, managers who could manage and accountants who could count, Dr Brash said.

"We will also be doing away with other politically correct practices adopted in recent times, like the allocation of science and research funding on the basis of some spurious assessment of a project's Treaty of Waitangi value, and the requirement to consult with the local iwi prior to approving funding for leading edge science projects," he said.

Dr Brash's speech attacked most areas of the Government, from tax to education to the police.

"Labour has immense faith in a centralised bureaucracy, with all the social engineering that goes with it, but little faith in the common sense of ordinary people who would rather make their own decisions with their own resources," he said.

"Labour policies are sending a terrible signal to the next generation of New Zealanders about how to get ahead in life."

- NZPA