Foreign Dependence

The present fuel crisis, in which New Zealand cannot pay for the fuel it needs from overseas, highlights the dependent nature of our economy. One of the reasons for this dependence is our lack of a heavy industrial base to our economy. Our iron and steel industry is grossly underdeveloped and yet we export good quality coal and ironsands to Japan. In order to maintain the manufacturing sector of the economy, New Zealand has to import the machinery, tools, components and parts that we could in part, be making ourselves. This is one of the reasons for the continued entrenchment of the economic crisis.