I’ve always believed that the two greatest human failings are first religion and then warfare, this latter frequently a consequence of the former.

Having spent about half of my last 60 years in other countries, I’ve lost any sense of nationalism. That’s because one soon realises that in essence, everyone is basically the same.

A major issue of the contemporary age, not just in New Zealand but also Australia and Britain, and to varying degrees elsewhere, is today’s unaffordability of house ownership.