"Once Were Warriors" was a brutal insight into another side of New Zealand life.

OPINION: I can't believe there's a survey question that asks whether Kiwis think Maori get special treatment - of course they do.

Everyone's at their wits' end over all the special treatment they get.

Maori comprise around 15 per cent of the population; one in seven citizens, about 700,000 people.

FAIRFAX NZ Oscar Kightley ponders what "special treatment" for Maori might entail.

And yet just look at our institutions, which are overwhelmed by the multitudes of Maori doctors, lawyers, professors, bankers, directors, politicians, and high-ranking businessmen and women.

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They're clearly all fed with a silver spoon and clothed in nappies of woven gold thread as soon as they begin their lives of privilege.

Look at our prisons, where there are absolutely no Maori people at all. Mind you, one of the big drivers of crime is poverty, so it's no wonder there are no Maori in jail.

It's not rich overseas investors who are buying up all the land in New Zealand and driving up prices so the rest of us can't get a look in. It's all the rich-as Maori people.

One can't ride a bike through the country's many affluent suburbs without bumping into Maori laying down hangi in amongst the late-model Lamborghinis displayed on the the well-manicured lawns.

And then there's Once Were Warriors from 1994, which remains one of the country's favourite movies. Oh how audiences guffawed at the nonsensical story line and the lives of fantasy it depicted.

Then there are all the Kiwis who have moved to Australia looking for a shot at a better life. None of them would be Maori. Why would they want to leave when they get treated like royalty here? Don't all Maori girls and boys at birth get a lifetime's supply of toys and food, a house, a boat and a million dollars? Oh that's right. No.

The reality for many Maori tends to be closer to the other end of the scale. Given that Maori were originally the wealthiest landowners in the country, their current lot is a clear reversal of fortune.

It's in no small part thanks to decades upon decades of prejudiced treatment that began with colonisation and continued through into the 1970s, until some Maori people said enough was enough, and they occupied Bastion Point.

Correcting this imbalance, at least to a point of equilibrium, requires conscious attention. The work of the Waitangi Tribunal is an important part of that in compensating for the wrongs of the past and paying for land that was stolen. Maybe that's what some people misconstrue as special attention.

Perhaps this would be a better survey question: "are you one of those closet racists who think Maori get special treatment?"

Believing that others are privileged shows an ability to blame them for the problems facing yourself and the world. You know, like what Donald Trump tells his supporters.

What is this mythical special treatment? Is it because in one out of 52 weeks of the year, the newsreaders on TV say a few words in Maori?

Is it because there are pre-schools dedicated to teaching and restoring a language that was once officially suppressed in schools?

Yeah, nah. The notion that Maori get special treatment is complete kaka.