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There was a fascinating poll off the back of yesterday\'s comment on this show around DOC paying employees to learn M\\u0101ori .

To recap, you get $3500 if you speak M\\u0101ori but it\'s not necessary for the job.

No job is not done because of a language issue. It\'s merely part of the public services desire, driven by Government demand, that we introduce a level of M\\u0101oridom that, in theory, addresses past wrongs, balances the ledger and pays appropriate tribute and importance to the Treaty.

But in reality it just drives a lot of us nuts.

The poll asks the simple question - "do you believe race relations are getting better or worse?"

14 percent say it\'s getting better, 47 percent say it\'s getting worse and 35 percent think it hasn\'t changed.

That\'s quite the gap.

The number doesn\\u2019t surprise me and the sadness is that it didn\\u2019t have to be this way.

As we have argued all along, there was never anything in anyone\'s way to embrace M\\u0101ori culture or history and never anything stopping anyone learning the language.

But through a combination of Government arrogance and ideological blindness, not to mention a tin ear, they went headlong into the world of indoctrination and tried to drag us all along for the ride. As a result we\'ve got an angry, divided nation, part of which will play out on October the 14th.

It\\u2019s the school curriculum, it\\u2019s the infiltration at universities, it\\u2019s the place names, the company names and the greetings on the phone these days from Government workers who don\\u2019t speak M\\u0101ori any more than anyone else does, but they think by saying "morena" that somehow means they\'re a bona fide bandwagoner.

The six o\'clock news, a bulletin once produced in English, is now a faux multilingual experience with phrases, that stats and facts tell us very few people even understand.

For example, weather forecasts, that in tough times actually need to be understood for safety reasons, using names for places many have never heard of.

It all adds up. And before you know it, the frustration builds to a point where things like co-governance has become a lightening rod issue. An issue that, as we have seen in meetings, can lead to violence.

Violence doesn\\u2019t make it right, and there is no excuse for it, but if you don\\u2019t take people with you, you end up with a poll where 47 percent say race relations has gotten worse.

A result that is the exact opposite to what was intended.

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