Dave Stewart

Keith Melville’s latest opinion piece, Need for race relations to be open, Beacon, September 5, patronises Māori aspirations.

It’s a classic rhetorical move: acknowledge the past, then use it to shut down present demands. The tension here isn’t just about policy – it’s about whose voice gets to define fairness, representation, and progress.

He seems to be saying to Māori, “Look, you don’t understand inequality, so listen while I explain it to you, you’ve got it good. Accept it.”

I know Mr Melville well enough to know that he’s a decent bloke at heart, but his letter, Good on you, Barry, Beacon, August 6, commenting on Barry Rosenberg’s opinion piece (The dictator/king and I, August 22) on his success, also needs a response.

There are people who make a lot of money because they aim to make a lot of money, and there are people who make a lot of money doing what they love doing, and because they love doing it, they are good at it, and because they are good at it, people pay them lots for it.

It’s what I tell my grandkids to do.

Money is a byproduct of success for a lot of people.

That they don’t turn into different people because of it is something to admire in their character.

Mr Melville could have left his “Good on you, Barry” letter in the 1950s where it could keep his attitude to Māori wards company.