Rob Rattenbury: Musings about change over a pub meal and a beer

Many good conversations are had at the pub over a beer. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Recently I went to my monthly lunch with an old friend, a guy I worked with at ACC for more than 21 years.

We went to our local English-style pub, the oldest hotel in our town - maybe even in New Zealand.

A hotel of the same name has been on the site since 1849, named after the British army regiment sent from India to protect the first settlers from understandably somewhat annoyed Māori.

The pub was humming, even for level 2. I had forgotten my mask but the kind barperson gave me one.

I try not to go out much nowadays so I easily forget the rules. I'm a strong believer in the rules.

Being health-compromised, I really don't want Covid, but I'm only human and sometimes forget stuff. Something to bear in mind when we see others making small mistakes about the rules.

All the masks and distancing made me think a bit about our future in New Zealand.

Personally, international travel is over for me. I'm so glad my wife and I had the opportunity to travel prior to Covid.

Maybe international tourism will be a thing of the past except for the very wealthy.

Maybe it will come back in a year or two but in a very different form, smaller numbers from very select countries.

New Zealanders are now used to not being overrun by overseas tourists at our resorts and special spots of beauty.

I think deep down, many New Zealanders are coming to prefer the peace and quiet.

The tourism and hospitality industries are suffering badly, especially during levels 3 and 4, but the economy is going gangbusters.

Tough decisions are now being made in those industries about long-term viability. Some will walk away, others will adapt, hoping for the day our borders reopen.

Either way, things are different and will be for a very long time.

Other matters will impact on us soon.

Climate change is the real elephant in the room - much more difficult and insidious than any pandemic that can quickly, in terms of a few years, be solved by vaccinations and changed social behaviours.

Scientists tell us the impacts of climate change are now upon us and that time is short to slow or hopefully stem the change.

Again we are asked to trust the science and the majority of world scientific opinion. Again we will see societal change as a result in coming decades.

Then we are facing Labour-led societal changes that are freaking Conservative voters out.

The Māori Renaissance is well upon us and will continue, as it should.

Fear of change and unintentional ignorance of how our country came about as a nation is causing some resentment, with the resultant published half-truths, innuendo and slants on established historical facts - these reactions need to be challenged.

So there is a bit going on in Godzone at present without even mentioning the fact that many of my children's generation and most of my grandchildren's generation will never own their own homes.

With increasing wealth inequity due to house prices, rental costs and low wages, poverty for many is here to stay.

Lack of immigration long-term is bad for New Zealand, a land of immigrants.

We need fresh blood and fresh minds to thrive. We need improved and greatly enlarged MIQ facilities to process Kiwis coming home and the much-needed workers and immigrants.

We are in for an interesting few years. Life as we know it was changing before Covid-19 but it seems to have acted as the catalyst that has woken most of us up.

Dreams, plans, businesses, careers and job prospects have been shattered for many decent, hard-working people - friends and family, not anonymous numbers.

Those who lost employment or businesses and are aged 55 to early 60s, too young for the pension but too old to be attractive prospects to many employers or to retrain, have perhaps suffered the greatest disadvantage and loss of long-term dreams.

They face having to live on savings intended for a long retirement, and near-poverty at the end of hard-working, fruitful lives.

My mate and I had our lunch and a small beer, talked rugby, politics, family, old stories about work lives.

A couple of very enjoyable hours in a beautiful old building, then back to our lives at home for another month. We are both lucky, we both know it and are very grateful.

The thing I've discovered in the last 18 months is that many lives, my own included, have become smaller, confined to family matters and occasional outings with old friends.

As a bit of an introverted extrovert with a few hobbies and interests, I'm all right but I know many others are really struggling, especially in the Waikato and Auckland regions.

We all need to remember that and care for each other.