I have been reading a book called Fridays with Jim, where David Cohen is interviewing former National Party leader and former Prime Minister Jim Bolger. Aside from being a good book, it raises a number of questions about where New Zealand is headed.

To be clear I am not a National supporter. However Mr Bolger is known for progressive thinking where practicality of policy supersedes political ideology. As such the interviews on which the book is based identify a range of policy areas that are not being addressed by any of the political parties in Parliament, Labour and National included.

This is a list of policy areas/issues no one in Parliament seem to want to talk about, but which are very important to our future as a country.

• Green technology and science – heard of hempcrete?
• Constitutional arrangements – Mr Bolger supports a Republic of New Zealand
  
• Disabled and vulnerable peoples – not mentioned in the book, but one that I think more effort needs to made to address
  
• The loss of jobs to robots and technology – Mr Bolger described a hotel he stayed in in Japan where a robot brought him a towel; supermarkets are becoming self serve
  
• Forestry – planting a billion trees is one thing; managing our forests is quite another
• Men’s welfare, social issues – human rights organizations like Amnesty seem loathe to address them
• Alternative energy sources such as pump hydro stations, waste to energy and the need for a nation wide plan
  
• The future of cars – will there be a hybrid surge before we change to alternative fuels
• Ending neoliberalism – what are the alternatives, and how do you think we should change?
• Housing – much noise being made, but clearly no one has answers or a vision
• Addressing white collar crime, money laundering and shell companies
• Your privacy in the cyber era – protecting against online threats; social media and how much does your smartphone/etc know about you?