“You New Zealanders don’t know how lucky you are,” said virtually every Australian I met at the recent Friedman Conference in Sydney.

New Zealand, they pointed out, had a better tax system with GST across the board rather than at different rates on different products.

Our country’s finances were in much better shape.

And hunters and shooters I met remarked that our firearm laws were far more sensible than those over the ditch.

It wasn’t until I came back to rain-drenched windy Wellington that I realised they had overlooked a very serious problem here in New Zealand.

It’s our politicians.

Now, Australian politicians are no saints. They’re brash, combative, and prone to a few scandals of their own.

We all remember Tony Abbott saying he wanted to “shirtfront” the Russian president.

But instead of wee diplomatic spats, our politicians often find themselves falling foul of the laws for which they are responsible.

Just last week we saw Minister of Transport, Phil Twyford stripped of his responsibility for the Civil Aviation Authority.

His crime?

Talking on the phone while the plane was readying for takeoff.

When you take a flight in New Zealand, there are all sorts of rules and regulations you can unwittingly transgress, let alone social norms and flying etiquette.

Taking a quick call is nothing compared to some of the flying faux pas Mr Twyford could have committed.

I mean, it wasn’t as though he was busted hogging both armrests.

As far as I am aware he didn’t spend the entire flight talking to the person next to him.

Nor did he commit one of the worst flying offences – repacking hand luggage in the aisle.

He wasn’t caught out playing Nickelback loudly through his earphones.

And it sounds like he wasn’t one of those people who carry on luggage that is physically impossible to get into the overhead containers.

Faux pas aside, it never ceases to amaze me that using a phone on an aircraft seems to be fine up until the point where the doors are closed. But then conversely it’s no big deal to use your phone when the plane is taxiing to the arrival gate.

If there is one area New Zealand needs to really work on, it’s regulatory quality.

I can’t help thinking back to the conversations in Australia.

Do we Kiwis know how lucky we are?

Absolutely. But there’s always room for improvement.