If the fees free at university didn’t work, what do you reckon is going to happen to the new procurement rules?

The government spends $42 billion a year buying stuff. It's 138 departments spend a lot of money, buying a lot of stuff. That's called procurement.

First issue, I would have thought is do we really need 138 departments? As an exercise I did this earlier this year for a reason I can't remember, but I looked up all the government departments we have. Go do it, it's worth it. You'll be astonished at the stuff we have that you’ve literally never heard of.

Anyway, they buy a lot of things. And under the new rules they need to consider not just what they're buying or whether it's any good, but whether it's helped Pacific Islanders, Maori, women or the disabled. I wish I was kidding.

The upside is it also involves a remit requiring a greater emphasis on quality construction, and that is no bad thing. When it comes to building stuff in this country we have been abysmal, and anything we can do to aim for quality and longevity over price I'm all for.

I am all for, by the way, women, Maori, and anyone else you want to stick in a category separate to anyone else.

In that is the madness, I don't categorise people by race or gender, or indeed height or hair colour. I couldn't care less who you are, or where you come from. What I care about, especially if I'm hiring you, is if you're any good.

What do I need, and what does it do? Whether it's goods or services, what is it you're offering? Is it value for money? Will it do the job I want it to do? Have you, through your skills and experience, given me something by way of a transaction that suits us both?

The moment you step outside that calculation, you are compromising. It could be on price. Why is it so cheap? Or why is it so expensive and am I being ripped off?

Or if it's to do with gender or race, am I buying something that I wouldn’t buy normally because I am under instruction? Does the purchase cross the threshold because the company stacked the deck with race or gender based employees at the expense of quality, longevity, or product specifications?

Once you're down that track, it's a rabbit hole you're not coming out of. It's theoretical, ideological rubbish and waste. And yet again using our money, and money we don’t even have any more.

Is this really the best that they can do in digging us out of a financial hole, the likes we have never seen?