Letter to the Editor Thursday August 8, 2013

One-trick pony

I fear the latest scandal regarding our most significant income from exports, Fonterra dairy products, is about to plunge us into yet another crisis.

The national proclivity of putting all our eggs in one basket as regards export income is a dangerous gamble that results from governments' failure to encourage and support a broader base of domestic productive activity.

I would go as far as to say laziness in promoting and supporting a wider range of industries and business has left us all vulnerable.

New Zealand has become more or less a one-trick pony, not a smart idea.

The only positive side of the potential demise of our dairy exports is that we may eventually be able to drink, fish and bathe in our favourite watering holes of years past. That's if we are still permitted such innocent pastimes.

JACQUELINE PAYNE

Kaiaka