There are a lot of flags being flown in Southland these days, each emblazoned with the $ symbol, blue on blue.
South Port chairman John Harrington believes he can see the future and it's a dirty one, in my view.
Harrington says: 'Dairying ... has the potential to double in Southland from the existing number of 155 000 cows'. 'Agriculture is the realistic way forward.' says Mr Harrington.
He cites too, a forecast, doubling the global demand for seafood and expresses excitement about Southland's gas, oil and coal-to-urea projects, all of which will push up the cargo volumes that pass through the port of Bluff.
He is but one of the 'high level' players lauding their pet extractive industries in Southland, all of whom parrot the line,
"..a trade-off between economic growth and the environment will be needed."
Trade-off indeed.
Mr Harrington seemed very disappointed that the Government has 'decided not to extract minerals in conservation areas, effectively ruling out a source of wealth for the nation'.
What a disappointment that must have been for him. I can only imagine what his opinion of the 'great unwashed' responsible for the Government's back-down must be!
Still, it's all looking promising for Mr Harrington. His comments positively drip with 'great economic expectations'.
