Hosking on DOC paying people to learn Maori

Mike Hosking writes:

The joke story of the weekend was the revelation that DOC, as in the Department of Conservation, is handing out money it doesn’t have to reward people for learning to speak Māori .

I say money it doesn’t have because DOC has a multi-million dollar operating shortfall.

What makes the story a tragic tale of our times is that there is no actual requirement in any of the jobs they do for there to be Māori spoken. Tasks are not getting done because they are short of Māori speakers.

This is the insidious Māori fication of the country that has so many upset. There is nothing wrong with the Māori language. Learn it all you want.

But it is not up to the taxpayer, for no specific or particular reason outside of a bandwagon, to foot the bill to pursue a woke ideology.

DOC is going to need a bailout because of its operating deficit. Rather than restrain spending, they are offering $3,500 extra salary per year to staff who learn Te Reo – despite to not being needed for their jobs.

No one would complain about higher salaries for jobs where specialist skills (such as language) are needed. But this is not the case here.