First Impressions By Brendan Horan

In 1775 Dr Johnson famously said: 'patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” and this quote seems to have some relevance to the Australian supermarket chain, Coles.

Coles has taken New Zealand made Mainland cheese off its shelves to support sales of local cheese.

Coles' website says 'selected products in the Mainland cheese range were recently deleted in line with our commitment to our customers to buy Australian-made wherever possible”.

This move eats at the heart of our ‘mateship' and the closer economic relationship New Zealand shares with our friends across the ditch. It is not a decision based on any customer choice – just a ploy to persuade patriotic Australians to buy local cheese.

Coles has received a number of complaints from customers who prefer Mainland cheese. They point out they should make the choice but Coles is adamant that it will keep the Kiwi cheese off its shelves.

New Zealanders are used to Australians giving all sorts of spurious reasons for banning Kiwi products. Remember the decades of banned apples from New Zealand? Anyone who has spent in time in Australia knows that local apples cannot compete with Kiwi varieties.

Our potatoes are also on the hit list, but apparently rugby league players born in Auckland qualify for the State of Origin grudge games between New South Wales and Queensland.

The cheese ban by Coles is probably illegal under restraint of trade laws but there is a much simpler way to deal with it. There are half a million Kiwis in Australia and they should be able to buy their Mainland cheese without Coles making the decision for them.

Perhaps Kiwis across the ditch could avoid shopping at Coles supermarkets for the time being and head only to supermarkets that sell Mainland cheese. After all, the Australian-owned supermarkets in New Zealand fill their shelves with Australian products and New Zealand owned supermarkets do not ban Aussie goods.

Coles should lift its ill-advised ban. The relationship between our two countries is too close to allow any room for scoundrels.