ew Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief said money not race is the factor which divides Bermuda. And he said Government would be talking to international industry to try to make sure Bermudians are not ignored when bonuses and perks are handed out.

Mr. Perinchief was appointed last Monday after a year heading the Ministry of National Drug Control where he said he was very happy.

The former senior Policeman, 65, told "I was somewhat disappointed not to get Public Safety because I thought it was a natural fit for the Ministry of National Drug Control."

Instead that Ministry was given to Housing Minister David Burch when it was split off from Labour and Home Affairs.

Mr. Perinchief said: "It was something I had thought about but the Premier has his own ideas.

"But I am a team player and will go with any team I am made the captain of.

"When I came to this ministry I thought at first it may be a bit pedestrian but I was pleasantly surprised when I realised it had CURE (the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality) and the Human Rights Commission which are very powerful legislative organisations to deal with work place situations and basic human rights.

"So I thought here was something with a bit of teeth to reflect my background in enforcement."

Asked about his approach to race, which new Premier Ewart Brown has signalled will be high on his Government's agenda, Mr. Perinchief said: "I believe race can become a distraction. The colour is green.

"Certain people have been kept as a low paid workforce, that includes Portuguese people who consider themselves white and to a great degree foreign expatriate workers who came from England and Canada.

"It's exploitation for the purposes of making money by a merchant class." Categories of foreign workers being exploited include those in construction, lowgrade engineering and tourism, said Mr. Perinchief.

"You cannot and should not get distracted by race. I believe it's been used as a divisive tool to mask the fact it's all about exploitation of people.

"It is coincidental that black people have been traditionally and historically exploited.

"Because number one there was a large uneducated workforce and they were kept in that condition. But it is for financial gain in the first instance and I think it remains so to today."

But he said blacks and Portuguese would have achieved some degree of parity in management positions in the local economy but for the advent of international business which made the situation worse.

"People who could not participate in the emerging international sector were Bermudians number one ? that's all Bermudians.

"Even white Bermudians weren't fully trained for it but they did have white privilege ? they were directors, not necessarily having the skills sets.

"And blacks not having the education and the white privilege were shut out. Talk to Portuguese people and they will tell you the same thing.

"It really wasn't a racial factor. The polarisation came about based on skill sets with black people being the bottom of the totem poll."

He said the CURE can and should correct that.

Figures from a Association of Bermuda International Companies study in 2004 show that just three percent of executive positions in surveyed companies were held by blacks and just six percent of senior positions.

Mr. Perinchief said: "That's now the mission of this Government through improving education and skill sets to get participation in the international business arena."

But he said Government would not have a confrontational approach.

"We prefer to do it through the agreement of the companies themselves. Hence what you see in the Throne Speech with apprenticeships."

However he said enforcement would be strengthened to ensure compliance and he will be reviewing sections already in the CURE Act.

He said Good Corporate Citizenship ? a device where companies boost training for Bermudians in return for promised speedier turn around of work permits ? could be levered to boost parity on work conditions.

There were still vast disparities in pay, bonuses, housing allowances and perks between Bermudians and non-Bermudians in international business, said Mr. Perinchief. Asked if there would be sanctions he said: "We want to do it co-operatively to start with.

"We don't want to get into coercion because these people are our corporate partners."

A joint task force on CURE is being set up between Government and international employers to improve equality of opportunity in the workforce.

"The dialogue has been good so far.

"I don't believe setting quotas is the way to go. Every industry is going to be separate and distinct."

He said entry level jobs were important to allow Bermudians to get on-the-job training and rise through international business. "We may do it before people get degrees. There's a lot of opportunity to do that.

"As there is more parity in incomes I believe a lot of the issues attributable to race will start to go away. Because people of vastly differing incomes don't have common interests.

"You may say you don't like a person because they are black, they are white, they are Portuguese when in actual fact you have very little in common based on your income, education and interests."

Education needed to be tailored to industry needs, said Mr. Perinchief.

"I think simply providing technical training as an ancillary course in our two largest schools Berkeley and CedarBridge and to a degree Bermuda College is not going to cut it.

"We need a centralised focus on these skills. We may very well be encouraged to bring back what amounts to a technical college which focuses on technical training and management.

"I emphasise management so it is not just focusing on teaching job skills but so they can manage companies in these industries."

Bermudians felt they were being displaced in jobs and housing by non-Bermudians who weren't necessarily white, said Mr. Perinchief.

"The core issues are education and lack of opportunity."

But he said tourism was no longer an attractive option.

Indeed he said the hospitality industry was in fact a "very inhospitable industry".

He explained: "It has long hours and low pay.

"I shouldn't say this but I don't believe, because of the rising expectations of Bermudians, that we are going to fill that large group."

Despite rising tensions as seen by the plethora of anti-expatriate leaflets flooding the island Mr. Perinchief said his Ministry is committed to multi-culturalism.

He said: "When we have heritage month you will see a celebration of various cultures.

"Last year there was a big outcry when the former minister gave a subsidy to the Filipinos to participate in the heritage day parade. He was correct to do that.

"Bermudians in the end celebrated on that day with the Filipinos.

"Their morale was lifted and they were highly respected because of that.

"What we should see is more multi-ethnic participation in the heritage month. People can expect that and look out for it and celebrate together."

And he said a multi-ethnic festival was planned for next year.

Last year Mr. Perinchief's own Cabinet colleague Senator Burch got in hot water when he used the word housenigger to abuse a caller to his radio show.

However despite a complaint the Human Rights Commission ruled it was not in contravention of the Human Rights Act.

Asked about the situation Mr. Perinchief said: "Any racially offensive rhetoric from a public servant should be discouraged and certainly wouldn't be entertained by this Minister."

But he said the Minister had an arm's-length dealing with the Human Rights Commission who would look at such situations.

He said he will be reviewing all the legislation under his ministry. "I want to make sure all human rights legislation and CURE legislation is consistent with first of all the United Nations conventions and secondly the European Convention.

"Where the two don't conflict I would wish to align our legislation with those two bodies."

Asked if it meant that Bermuda might have to change its human rights legislation to outlaw discrimination on sexuality he said: "As a general rule what I just said will apply.

"But having said that all of this legislation will have to come back to my Cabinet colleagues.

"I would really like Bermuda to be consistent with partners from developed countries.

"This goes past my personal feelings. It's bigger than my personal feelings."

Asked what they were he said: "I didn't enter the debate."