Don Brash: The new government has one helluva a task in front of it: Compulsory indoctrination is unworthy of professional bodies

The other day, I became aware of another example of the way in which the last Government tried to embed its own narrow interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi into every aspect of New Zealand life.

This one involves the Real Estate Authority. Like many similar bodies, it encourages its authorized agents to get regular updates about the laws and regulations affecting their profession. In this case, real estate agents are required to do 10 hours of study on a variety of issues, theoretically relevant to the real estate industry.