Mike Butler: Secret treaty deals not acceptable

A secret briefing on the deal to give $13.8-million of land in Devonport to Ngati Whatua, revealed at a public meeting at the Devonport Navy Gym on Saturday, has infuriated Auckland Mayor Len Brown, and has sharpened a feeling of injustice in the North Shore community.

A copy of the secret briefing to the Hauraki Gulf Forum was used to berate Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson and National Party MPs, according to news reports. Takapuna-Devonport Local Board chairman Chris Darby revealed the secret briefing. Finlayson, who tried to explain that the deal to give Ngati Whatua the 3.2ha of land had been done transparently, appears to think that secret deals are quite normal.

Mike Butler: $105,400 for propaganda

NZ on Air obviously has regretted paying Bryan Bruce $105,400 to create his propaganda piece “Inside Child Poverty”, that screened on TV3 a few days before the November election. Pity they did not think it through before they gave him the money.

Since I have spent 21 years of managing rental properties, including former Housing NZ flats with concrete block firewalls like those shown in the Bruce doco, I was astounded at the ignorance he displayed in the 15 minutes devoted to damp, mouldy flats. Therefore, I argued the issue through the letters section of the Dominion Post at the time.