If you thought that the dairy industry's abuse of land, waterways and their own animals was sickening, wait until the first outbreak of foot and mouth disease shuts down not just dairy exports but the whole meat industry as well. The banks' rape of our economy might have been tough and stuck us up to our necks in debt, but if we get an outbreak of foot and mouth New Zealand will plunge into the sort of economic depression that will make our worst nightmares seem jolly.

The appearance of a disease threat that is worse than war for this community, is ironically caused by a greedy dairy industry in search of cheap animal food to feed its excessive profits. Not happy with melamine in babies' milk to shore up returns, Fonterra has compromised our total economy.

The Greenies may be concerned about the environmental stupidity of using palm kernel as a substitute food for dairy cows, but in truth it is the palm kernel source not the stuff itself that will could cripple New Zealand.

That palm kernel is being sourced from Malaysia, a country where foot and mouth disease is endemic, having had at least one outbreak a year for the past 25 years. Yet we are importing thousands of tonnes of animal food from this place and the Minister of Biosecurity (that is an oxymoron – it should be Bioinsecurity) told Parliament that "No specific assessment of the risk for palm kernel has been done."

On the basis of this one statement the minister, David Carter should at least resign, and could reasonably be charged under terrorism laws because of the risk his department and his own slack performance have placed all New Zealand famers under. This man is also the Minister of Agriculture, so he should be deeply ashamed of his failure to consider the ramifications of imported cheap feed without care for the wellbeing of the sector he represents, and of the whole country.

If agriculture is indeed the backbone of this country, it is time John Key found a Minister of Agriculture with a backbone suited to the job - this one is rooting us.