SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22081, 1 May 1937, Page 14

SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK

AN AUSTRALIAN MINISTER IMPRESSED

"The whole thing was an eyeopener to me, and I came away deeply impressed and not a little envious of the modern machinery and the effective use being made of it," said the Minister for Public Works in Western Australia (the Hon. H. Millington) in describing yesterday his impressions of an inspection he had just made of the South Island Main Trunk construction works. Mr Millington, who is on a brief visit to New Zealand, said he was particularly impressed by the manner in which the excavation work was being carried out at the big cutting at Hawkeswood. By the use of modern machinery and modern methods, and the co-ordination of men and machines which was in evidence on the job, it was obvious to him, he said, that the Public Works Department of the Dominion was functioning along right lines. The economical manner in which the huge quantities of spoil were being shifted impressed him. It seemed to him that New Zealand was dealing with its difficult problem of railway construction in the most effective manner possible, and the methods employed should have a marked effect on the cost of the undertaking. He added that the Minister for Public Works for New Zealand, the Hon. R. Semple, was deserving of every commendation and congratulation for modernising the Public Works machine of the Dominion.