What I'm saying is that the length of time was good - a whole year to build things up. Also, the amount we were being given each week was good. Nobody's touching it. It's a waste of time getting a wage subsidy for that. I've just written a long letter to head office thanking them for the subsidy and giving the reasons why it worked for us - because the amount was right and the time was right.
Manufacturing is important but it is the land-based products and services that are the real key.
We have identified a huge acreage for tree planting which could provide meaningful work. Pest eradication is another possibility we've looked at. In an economic sense that makes the world go round. I think we could move people that way and that then generates money back into the community. There's vast tracts of New Zealand that can be planted, and the world's crying out for lumber and will do into the future, as they tear out millions of acres of rain forest.