OPINION: Your old mate reckons a wake-up call is overdue for the platoons of non-productive (and now unemployed) bureaucrats, researchers and various other bludgers whingeing about the current government putting out the bonfire of taxpayer money that burned so brightly in recent years.
NZ is not in a good financial state (income dropping, debt increasing, etc) and the world order is changing rapidly.
Chinese warships firing live rounds in the Tasman Sea with little to no warning is a good indicator that a future anchored to China buying our produce, or sending us tourists, is not goint to be a winning strategy for much longer.
We need to get the books in order sooner rather than later, and like it or not, up our military contribution compared to our allies.
And, despite the wailing and moaning, that means cutting out the deadwood.