We have to stop spending

so much money. 

This country currently has a "AAA" credit rating. I am not sure how that happened or how the present government has managed to maintain it. We are, to put it bluntly, deeply in debt. 

That debt has risen dramatically since Covid but it is not, as the present government would have it, due to Covid. Some, perhaps most, of the measures were justified then. There are other expenses now and they cannot be justified in the same way.

We are supposedly heading towards the mythical "net zero" and the cost far outweighs the benefits. What we are really paying for is an attempt for our small population to be a big player on the international stage. It is not working. 

This is not about "climate change" or the debate about whether it actually exists. It is about what might actually work in a country which has a population much smaller than the population of California (39m) or Texas (31m). The land mass of mainland USA is only about five percent larger than ours. While the USA has some desert and more sparsely populated areas these are nothing compared with our most remote areas. We keep being told "nuclear won't work" and "nuclear is dangerous" and "nuclear is too expensive" and all those things combined. We sell coal to China, coal we cannot use ourselves because it might add to our "carbon footprint". It all adds up in end - adds up to more expense.

Under enormous pressure we brought in a scheme which was intended to show we care for some of the most vulnerable people in society. It should have worked but it was badly designed and many people with disabilities are missing out while other people (or those responsible for them) are getting assistance they may enjoy but do not need in the same way.  It has proved enormously expensive and taking benefits away from those who do not really need them is, for the government in power, an electoral nightmare.

For generations we have continued to isolate indigenous people on the grounds that we are preserving their "culture", their "languages". their "family structures" and "family values". In reality we are not doing those things at all even while we genuinely believe those things are important. We have put billions of dollars into all this and many indigenous groups are no better off. 

Now we worry about housing for future generations but still persist in the belief that a single unit of housing with land around it is how it should be done. The reality is different.

Last night's news was full of how anxious farmers and arborists are about bringing in the upcoming food crops. They rely on imported and cheap labour from overseas - the people who are prepared to work hard for short periods of time. Some of those people will be relying on this work to send money home to feed their own families. Acknowledging that does not mean we should not also acknowledge there are many younger, fitter and more able young people who could also help but do not want to work in or to the same conditions. They rely on tax payer funded benefits instead.

All those things cost money and they are just the big things. Taxpayers fund sport because it is seen as "popular". It is not doing enough to fund libraries or publishing or skill building.

We allow non-citizens who have committed serious criminal offences to appeal when their right to stay is rejected and many of those appeals succeed. It is a costly process which can take years. That is just one small part of a process of migration in and out of the country which needs to be reviewed for the sake of everyone involved. 

There is more of course. Those are perhaps the biggest issues, issues where money could be spent more wisely with better long term outcomes for all. Electoral popularity and staying in power for as long as possible will always win out. I just need to stop spending anything in order to pay for all of this.