Paul Little: We need more than do-nothing leadership

What do they do all day at the Beehive? Photo / Mark Mitchell

You'd think that people wanting you to vote for them and let them run the show would give some indication of wanting to run the show.

Yet, strangely, the number of social and other problems with blindingly obvious and affordable solutions seems to grow in direct proportion to politicians' unwillingness to do anything about them.

For instance: We know high sugar consumption is driving an epidemic of obesity and tooth decay.

It is hard to believe anyone, even with the meagre imaginations of elected representatives, wants a demographic bulge of unhealthy kids who've had teeth removed, dragging through our health system for decades to come.

Which makes it even harder to believe the proven benefits of a higher tax on sugar and the consequent reduction in consumption are being ignored by those in a position to make it happen.

We know a lot of people are suffering from the cold this winter and can't afford to pay for the electricity to keep them warm.

In this case, to be fair, Andrew Little has offered to throw $347 million worth of power bill payments their way every year.

Which would be great news not just for them but for the electricity companies for whom it would be a windfall.

Alternatively, the same amount of money could be used to pay for solar power to be installed in 57,724 homes every year, solving the problem once and for all.

We are pretty sure our shamefully high suicide rate is due to the fact that people with problems feel cut off from any help and, having no one to talk to about what troubles them, take the only way out they can see. Yet an intransigent health bureaucracy is refusing to countenance the simple and certain remedy of encouraging communities to talk about the problem and helping those at risk into counselling that would put their worries into perspective and provide a way out that wasn't quite so final.

While the crime rate goes down the prison population continues to increase. Thank the Bail Amendment Act 2013 which makes it harder for prisoners to be released on bail.

Men and women who present no threat to anyone are being remanded in custody to placate a muddle-headed political lobby group which raised fears of heinous crime being permitted by dangerous criminals allowed to roam free.

And there's good evidence to show that raising the drinking age will reduce alcohol-related crime and social harm, and lowering the maximum speed limit will almost certainly reduce traffic fatalities.

Many of these solutions require not much more than the stroke of a pen to bring about.

But there is no sign that any of them are likely to happen anytime soon.

Why? Are New Zealand politicians really in thrall to Big Sugar, the roading lobby, health bureaucrats with closed minds, the Catholic Church and everyone else who seems to be calling the shots?

There's precious little evidence of them living high on the hog of backhanders. Nor is this syndrome specific to any one party.

The problem seems to be an unwillingness to do anything that might annoy anyone.

Some voters somewhere may not like the changes. Those supermarkets won't like the sugar tax and the alcohol industry will get so cross if two years' worth of people aren't able to buy their products.

The result is do-nothing leadership that coasts from election to election while real problems continue to get worse.

Perhaps at this election we could reserve our votes for would-be leaders who can show a willingness to lead.