HRH has missed out as our next GG – but the sits vac show we’ll soon need a bigwig at GCSB

If it's a military background we need, here's the man.

Okay, so Alf bombed out on the GG’s job.

He has been deeply depressed since learning the Queen has appointed former Defence chief Jerry Mateparae, who – for good measure – will get the knighthood that Alf for years has hoped might come his way.

Jerry (a splendid fellow, let the record show) will become the next Governor-General in August, to begin a five-year term when Sir Anand Satyanand steps down.

The Herald says –

He will be 56 when he becomes New Zealand’s 20th Governor-General and Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that his relatively young age was a factor in choosing him.

“I just think we are a young, modern country. It’s a great fit for what we are doing,” he said. Mr Key said he had compiled a list but General Mateparae was his first choice.

The deeply depressed Alf discerns more than a whiff of ageism in that remark.