To return briefly to the matter of national defense, I have noticed a number of news items recently on the increasing cyber threat to New Zealand, with ransomware being the current subject de jour and attacks like this being linked to terrorism, both as a source of finance and a means of disruption. I can just see the national grid going down and the banks being emptied and people milling in confusion when the ATMs stop working while our borders are ringed by costly ships and tanks standing by uselessly. 

I am all for defense, but the way to survive in today's world is to be smarter than your opponent. Those who think bigger guns mean more security are living in the 19th century or have seen too many American action movies. Any attack is not going to come over the seas, but through our computers. Smart defense is investing in better schools, more education, and specialist resources. That is where the money wasted on the military should be going.