Nats 'PC eradicator' attacks own party's policy

Wayne Mapp

National's "political correctness eradicator" has attacked Statistics New Zealand's for offering joint English and Maori census forms -- though the policy was introduced when his party was in power.

In a speech to the Eastern Hutt Rotary Club yesterday, Dr Wayne Mapp said: "Statistics New Zealand has decided our country should not only have two official languages, but that we should also become bilingual.

"When did we have the debate on whether New Zealand should become bilingual?"

But Government statistician Brian Pink said census forms had been offered in Maori since 1996, when National was in government.

"It seems a sensible decision from my point of view because we believe that we get engagement and a high level of participation from the Maori community as a consequence," he told the Dominion Post.

Statistics NZ has printed 4.5 million forms in English and 600,000 in Maori.

The forms were offered to those who requested it and in three areas where there was a high Maori population -- Northland, East Cape and the Chatham Islands.

It is not the first time Dr Mapp has caught his own colleagues in friendly fire.

Soon after he was appointed in October last year, he attacked the "minority capture" of the Human Rights Commission, which he said regularly stepped into the realm of advocacy.

But hours after he made the statements one of his fellow MPs Paul Hutchison was calling on the Government to act on a commission report on improving access to public transport for the disabled.

In his speech yesterday Dr Mapp said there were signs of a "roll back" in political correctness, but it would take time to remove it altogether.

Dr Mapp said that since his appointment he had received hundreds of emails from members of the public giving examples of perceived political correctness.

Eliminating the ideas of political correctness could never be wholly achieved because all viewpoints could receive a fair hearing, he said.

However, a critical goal that could be achieved was changing attitudes at public institutions.

"Already there are signs of roll back. The bureaucrats most used to applying the tests of political correctness are already becoming more cautious. But just as it took many years for political correctness to become embedded in our institutions, it will take time to remove it," Dr Mapp said.

- NZPA