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Saturday, February 24, 2024

Heather Du Plessis-Allan: Mandatory Culture Lessons at Real Estate Agents Was Wrong

The case of the real estate agent being forced to do a Māori culture and tikanga course or lose her job is a case of bad judgment by the Real Estate Authority.

Estate agents have to do courses to retain their licenses. 

10 hours of training a year... mostly they can pick which topics they do  

But a couple are compulsory for everyone.  

And one of them – there's only two compulsory - and one of them was the Māori culture and tikanga course.

 

Now an estate agent called Janet Dickson who works for Harcourt's objected to doing it because she says it's a “subject that is only peripherally connected” to her job. 

And she's right isn’t she? 

I mean a compulsory course on money laundering? Fair enough. 

Compulsory course on how to appropriately deal with issues and complaints? Fair enough. 

Sale and purchase agreements? Fair enough.

But Māori tikanga and culture? Hmmm... not convinced. 

Now look... I think your life is enriched by learning about different cultures and different ways of thinking about things... personally... I find this one of the most fascinating things in the world.

But that’s a personal choice.  it’s shouldn't’ be a job requirement for an estate agent 

And certainly not one that might leave Janet Dickson banned for five years from the job 

The Real Estate Authority probably has its heart in the right place but has made a massive error in judgment. 

For all the good they might’ve done in introducing some estate agents to diverse ways of thinking... they’ll have done as much harm in creating resentment amongst others by forcing them to do something largely irrelevant to their work.

Secondly.. By being heavy handed and threatening her with her job, they look like bullies.

This is the kind of red tape nonsense this country doesn’t need if we want to make doing business easier .

If it’s not related to the job, leave it out, no matter how worthy you think it is.

And for the record... It says a lot that that course was compulsory last year... this year... when it’s getting attention... It's now only voluntary.

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...


Does the REI have its heart in the right place?
Or is it just another fellow traveller in the bullying process so obvious in NZ?

The Real Estate business is crucial for the future Maori control of land in NZ (Aotearoa) by 2040 - as per He Puapua. This was well on the way with David Parker's RMA laws - now repealed. Protocols such as Maori land claims to private property and mandatory " first option to buy" reserved for Maori buyers would be easy to establish. RE professionals would go along to keep their livlihoods.

This is well advanced in other professions - the Law and media are 2 glaring examples.

Never underestimate or downplay the terrifying process of brainwashing now playing out in NZ . The plan for a Maori- centred ethnocracy called Aotearoa and laid for by the 83% is bulldozing on.

In fact, with the election of the Coalition, this has accelerated so as to establish maximum coverage which cannot be rolled back.

When will people wake up to the 2 tier society evolving around them?

Anonymous said...

In the realestate firm my partner manages,there's one Maori lady.
When presented with the course last year she stated "what a load of bullshit, do they expect me to run around in a grass skirt next"
Yet the media articles only give voice to the passionate Maori-philes and seek to guilt those that don't think like them.

Anonymous said...

Heather I think you’re being generous. This is not just “…an error of judgement…” by the Real Estate people, it’s bloody stupid! Virtue signalling at its worst.

I saw something as stupid yesterday at Hastings hospital. All the signage is now in Te Reo, in bold. The meaningful and useful English signs are in smaller print after the Maori sign. Again, bloody stupid! 97% of the population can’t speak Te Reo so why arrange the signs this way? It’s just some misguided attempt at virtue signalling. The world’s going mad!

DeeM said...

We all know what this really is. It's a money-making enterprise for part-Maori. A guaranteed income stream for supplying information not in the remotest sense relevant to an occupation.
Make it compulsory, threaten employees with loss of job, and bingo, cash for life.

It's Left-wing, government sponsored, racially motivated indoctrination. All the things we voted against at the last election.
Our new government should take action to ensure this is kicked into touch immediately and poor Janet doesn't have to go through all the stress and anguish. ACT have certainly spoken up against it and will probably have to drag our PM along with them. His record is far more patchy on issues like these.

mudbayripper said...

The whole purpose of woke over reach IS to foster resentment and division.


Anonymous said...

The powers that be at the Real Estate Institute are plainly stupid people without any appreciation of who they serve. Did they ask their members if they thought they would benefit from having Maori cultural instruction as part of their continuing education course? Clearly not. They like many other "decision makers" thought they knew what's best for those they pretend to serve. That's why they are stupid.

As for Harcourts, they too are stupid people without principle. The firm has let Janet Dixon "go". Let's hope consumers tell Harcourts where to "go" so each of the commission agents that the Harcourts bosses depend on send them a message they they should be acting in the best interests of those who support their opulent life-style, not yielding to some radical woke agenda because they have not got the guts to stand for a basic human right called freedom.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

By the time the Gov't gets around to doing anything about the activist Maori takeover of NZ - NZ will be a full blown Maori state

Anonymous said...

Look back at Nazi Germany and draw parallels with the current indoctrination.

And can someone please put a name to these people at REA that approved this indoctrination ?
Why are such people never identified personally ?
Do they put their hand up and take any responsibility for their deliberate ruination of NZ ?

P.S. I have to stay anonymous because of unintended consequences . Those REA people are clearly in the public domain.

Martin Hanson said...

And Labour can't figure out why it lost the election!

Anonymous said...

It would be far better for real estate agents to do a mandatory course on geology, so they could explain to potential purchasers the risks they were taking on any particular property.
Explain that the Napier region is a flood plain, that is still being created from material being eroded from the hills.
Tell them about the earth quake risks in the Wellington region.
Etc.
Far more relevant than any artificial mumbo jumbo spouted by part Maori activists.

Anonymous said...

Tell buyers that Auckland is built over a red hot volcanic zone.

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