I made a submission again this year on the 'big picture' issues relating to the draft Venture Southland business plan. The full submission is available below, and under this para, my presentation to the committee which tries to summarise the main theme, which in itself can be summarised as follows: A probable future is one of much lower economic activity, particularly in export industries and tourism, and this will come about as a direct result of declining 'net energy' available to us as a result of global trends that have a root in bio-physical limits that we're hitting.