Letter: Unfair dinkum

OK, Australia has indeed many natural resources and fully deserves the title "the lucky country".

However, there are many countries with similar or greater natural resources and yet they still have not achieved anything like the progress Australia has made. The major difference between here and there is not the climate or the resources but a real sense of value of strategic assets and planning.

The Australians, although very generous to their neighbours, wouldn't contemplate giving up anything they consider their own and rightly protect fishing, mining, banking and finance from predatory outsiders.

The control on their banks, which here would have been considered draconian, saved them from the recent crisis now seems like just another example of their joined up strategic thinking.

The attempts to buy into the big mining companies have likewise been persistently rebuffed. Industry is strategically managed and planned as a "must do", "must keep".

Compare that with what we don't have control over: the fishing industry, whisky industry, oil industry, banking, finance and electronics.

They are their own men and like strong leaders who wouldn't go around saying "junior partner" and they certainly would not put up with "Manchurian Candidates" as prime ministers as we have in the recent past.

Conversely, maybe I am wrong but I doubt if Prof McNair will have a great deal of luck in telling the Australians the error of their ways and that they should return to being the branch office and that these decisions are really for the "big boys" in London.

R Goodall

Stanley Avenue

Edinburgh