Agent's Licence At Threat for Not Bending to REA's New Woke Bullshit

Veteran Auckland real estate agent, Janet Dickson, of Harcourts, is under threat by the Real Estate Authority of New Zealand:  she is about to have a five-year cancellation slapped on her operating licence for taking a stance against the creep of woke bullshit into her industry's professional education requirements.

Dickson is refusing to complete an online training course in te reo Māori, tikanga, and the Treaty of Waitangi.

According to a New Zealand Herald article, her refusal is based on concerns over the ability of an industry body to force its members to complete training on a subject only "peripherally connected to their job under threat of losing their right to work".

"As part of that fight she’s seeking a judicial review of the Real Estate Authority’s power to enforce cultural training for the country’s realtors," the article reads.

"As well as hiring a lawyer Dickson is backed by lobby group, Hobson’s Pledge, which is headed by former National Party leader, Don Brash."

According to her story on the Hobsons Pledge website (the Pledge is a stand against the division of our national populace on the basis of ethnicity), Janet is a dedicated real estate agent with more than 30 years' experience.

The Hobsons Pledge coverage reads:

"It is also a key concern to Janet that the online training course Te Kākano is a singular perspective of the subject matter when there is much variance in opinion and understanding within iwi, Māoridom, and New Zealanders. This is a matter of personal and professional autonomy and diversity of opinion."

It continues:

"Janet is seeking to challenge REA’s power to impose compulsory courses, via a judicial review in the High Court. The review could serve as a critical tool in addressing the overreach by other professional organisations who force diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training on workers via mandates."

Lawyers' Statement

Dickson's lawyers at Franks Ogilvie in Wellington have issued a statement saying they will file a judicial review to challenge the REA’s continuing education rules:

“This challenge argues that aspects of the rules are invalid. REA is acting outside its powers and its purported attempt to compel real estate agents to undertake this course unreasonably cuts across agents’ right to freedom of expression,” their statement reads.

“The judicial review raises important public law issues and is likely to impact all licensed real estate agents.”

Dickson's LinkedIn page says she began in real estate since 1984, and "immediately topped her company three years in a row and then took out the prestigious Real Estate Institute Salesperson of the Year award".

My own personal take on this whole matter:

I have had the most HEINOUS experiences - multitudes of them - with real estate agents.

And in every single instance (of those that I thought it was any  point in even reporting), the REA either brushed it off, or took the bare minimum action (that wouldn't even have prevented the agents in question from so much as thinking about the consequences of repeating their conduct).

So, in my opinion and in my experience, if the Real Estate Authority of New Zealand had any desire to make any real improvement in the standard of realtors' ethics and conduct, they'd be concentrating on that, rather than their political point-scoring woke bullshit.