[...] If a senior public servant were to insist, today, that his staff bow their heads while he intones a Christian prayer, he would almost certainly be severely reprimanded. If, however, he invited a Maori staff member to offer-up a karakia, anyone objecting would be making an extremely unwise career decision.

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Known principally for his political commentaries in The Dominion Post, The ODT, The Press and the late, lamented Independent, and for "No Left Turn", his 2007 history of the Left/Right struggle in New...