Matisyahu's Blog

It is so close to the end of the week, I can hardly wait for my annual leave to begin. Tonight I had a small walk then had a lite meal of some fresh ciabatta bread and a vegetarian Mexican style chilli that has lots of fibre and protein which left me satisfied but not bloated. Next week I’m going to work through what I have in the cupboard because I’d sooner start with a clean slate when I do my next grocery shop I’ll have a meal plan going forward – I guess the balance is trying to find enough variety to make meals interesting but also ensuring that there is a balance of nutrition as well as easy to prepare since when I work I only have 30 minutes for dinner.

I’ve been following news about the RMA (Resource Management Act) reforms and it is good to see that the media is providing some balance to a pretty complicated wide reaching reform that will touch almost every part of the economy. The left really hasn’t helped itself by resorting to the hysterical claims about how it’ll allow a complete free for all when it comes to pollution but Chris Hipkins, leader of the Labour Party, took a more balanced approach pointing out that there were many similarities between what Labour proposed and passed and what National have done (link).

Although there is a laundry list of issues I have with the government particularly around long term infrastructure planning there are some good things that are occurring such as dealing with the market dominance of a small number of players in the building supplies market. There is also dealing with the ridiculousness of a building supplies having to be retested even though they already confirm to standards that are equal or better to what we have in New Zealand which is just needless duplication and complexity that only the big players can deal with.

When I talk about politics I try not to ‘both sides it’ but equally it is important for New Zealand not to turn into what the United States has turned into. If the National led government does something good then one shouldn’t just instinctively go “well, it sucks because…well, they’re not my team” because now you just end up with the politics like in the United States where the Republicans stand for nothing other than “do the opposite of what the Democratic Party propose even if what is being proposed is a good idea”. Will I still vote Labour/Greens? sure but I also realise that if the policies being proposed are good then I don’t see them being repealed or if there needs to be changes they’ll amend then to address any concerns that may arise.