First Impressions By Brendan Horan

Exports have always been our economic lifeblood but the flow is being interrupted by the high value of the New Zealand dollar.

One of the heart's pumping chambers is the Port of Tauranga, which ships out more than seven million tonnes worth $16 billion annually. It is commonly accepted by serious world financial authorities that our dollar is overvalued by about 20 per cent, which means the real value of these exports should be closer to $20 billion.

This simple equation illustrates New Zealand's economic problem. We spend more than we earn because our currency hurts exporters but helps importers by keeping overseas goods cheap. So, the cycle of spending more than we earn continues our downward spiral. The evidence is more jobs lost and the future looks bleaker. Just look at Kawerau – once a boom paper processing town and now a busy WINZ office.

New Zealand First has tried to ease this problem by putting forward amendments to the Reserve Bank's rules to take more account of exports and jobs. Many people are not aware that our high dollar is the result of money trading. Most of the daily transactions relate to international currency speculation and our economy is hurt by this.

We simply want to make our economy work for everyone – not just the speculators! In light of the global financial crisis, other countries have adopted policies that effectively devalue their currencies. This makes our situation even more precarious yet the government is blindly following an economic path that does not work for us.

The down side of a lower Kiwi dollar is a rise in the price of imports like petrol but at least there will be more jobs and more money to pay for the petrol. And, if imports cost more, our industries that make substitute (and higher quality) products will thrive and create even more jobs.

A lower dollar will bring a win-win situation. It's a pity the government can't see it.