When I first heard about Winston Peters’ idea to give every newborn baby $1,000 so they can have a KiwiSaver account from birth, I liked the sound of it.

Until I did some numbers. Which I’ll get to.

Announcing the NZ First policy yesterday, he said it would be compulsory for every newborn to be signed-up to KiwiSaver and the state would throw in $1,000 to get things started.

He said the policy would ensure every child began their financial life as a KiwiSaver member and would be a nest egg for what he’s calling “the KiwiSaver generation”.

Which sounded pretty good on first blush. Until I did some numbers.

Let’s start with what it would cost the government.

There were about 58,000 births in New Zealand last year. So, on those numbers, that would put the cost of this policy at around $58 million a year.

And what would that $1,000 government contribution, on its own, be worth after 65 years?

Assuming 4 percent interest for 65 years, it would come to $12,800. If we assumed 7 percent over 65 years, it would come to about $80,000.

And, when I consider those numbers - plus the tens of millions of dollars of government money every year for that kind of return - I think it’s a dud of an idea.

But Winston does have another KiwiSaver idea that I think is an absolute no brainer. Making it compulsory.

Winston and I are not on our own thinking this.

Sam Stubbs, who is managing director of the Simplicity KiwiSaver outfit, does too.

He says it has to be compulsory because we have to make sure everybody is saving for their retirement while they're working. And the only way to do that is to make it compulsory.

Across the Tasman, it’s compulsory for employers to contribute but not for workers.

Which doesn’t sound terribly fair to me. Because why should employers be forced to make contributions if the people who work for them aren’t?

I remember reading about the number of people who don’t have a KiwiSaver account and some work that had been done to work out how much people are missing out on because of that.

Collectively, with so many people not even saving the minimum 3 percent of gross salary, the KiwiSaver pot is going to be about $110 billion less than what it should be or could be if we all had an account we were putting money into.

And it’s not just the people who don’t have accounts. About a third of those of us who do have KiwiSaver accounts aren’t contributing anything. Which is why it has to be made compulsory.

And it’s not like people would be out marching in the streets if it was made compulsory. Because a survey a couple of years ago found that 62 percent of us support the idea.

I don’t know if that level of support may have waned since then because of the cost of living.

Nevertheless, making KiwiSaver compulsory for workers is a no-brainer and a way better approach than NZ First’s idea of making it compulsory for newborns.

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I can understand why people living at Pegasus, north of Christchurch, are upset about the golf course there being sold to a large property developer.

But, at the same time, how long can anyone expect the area they live in to stay the same?

And, while I might not make friends with the Pegasus people saying this, I think they are just going to have to accept it.

What happened is we got a tip-off earlier this week that the golf course was about to be sold.

The resort-style golf club opened in 2009 and was one of the key attractions for people who moved there, but the club went belly up in March, owing about $9 million to creditors.

We were also told earlier this week that there was a plan to use the Government’s fast-track legislation to get houses built on the land.

So our newsroom started looking into it. The Waimakariri Council said it was news to them. They said they hadn’t been approached about rezoning the land, and they knew nothing about it being fast-tracked.

There was nothing about it on the Government’s fast-track website either.

Then we found out that the deal on the land is due to be signed today, so maybe that will be the catalyst for trying to get it all fast-tracked.

Much of the property would have to be rezoned for housing before it could be fully developed. I gather the first two holes on the course, as well as the clubhouse and the driving range, were rezoned by previous owners who had planned to build a resort and a hotel there.

A housing development is not what Pegasus residents saw happening. They are gutted. “Heartbroken” is another way they’re describing the way they’re feeling.

The question this all raises, though, is how long can we expect the areas we live in to stay the same?

Whether we like it or not, I think it’s unreasonable to expect no change.

The concerns people in Pegasus have about a housing development swamping the golf course and changing the nature or the vibe of the area where they live aren’t limited to Pegasus.

And, yes, I’m sure having that big green area at Pegasus must be great.

But nothing stays the same forever, wherever you live.

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Matiu Walters and Marlon Gerbes from Six60 joined Canterbury Mornings ahead of "Once in a Lifetime" at One New Zealand Stadium - the first ever music gig at the new stadium.

They discussed their journey as a band so far, the excitement to headline the first gig at the new stadium, and the look back at their first performances in Christchurch from years gone by.

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