GOVERNMENT’S VIEW

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27169, 13 October 1953, Page 7

GOVERNMENT’S VIEW

STATEMENT BY MR WATTS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 12. The closing of the Hastings gasworks would naturally be viewed with concern by all consumers in the district, but it would be unfair to place the responsibility for the Napier Gas Commany’s decision on the Government, said the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr J. T. Watts) tonight. The Minister said that during the last two years the Government had made substantial subsidy payments to the gas industry of more than £1.250,000, but it felt that it had a responsibility to ensure that the taxpayer should not be unduly called on to contribute to what was in fact a local rather than a national problem. “Last year legislation was enacted which gave electric power boards the opportunity to acquire gas companies and to continue or close them down,” continued Mr Watts. “This is a clear indication of the Government’s view that the supply of heat and power should be viweed as one, and that financial arrangements should be made on that basis. This legislation has already been of assistance in some districts. “There is a continual pressure by local bodies for more autonomy and power to manage their own affairs, and I have felt that the gas problem in the Hawke’s Bay area is a matter on which all the local bodies could confer. Subsidy Decisions “The present intention is for the subsidy to end on March 31, 1954,” he added. “When negotiations were entered into with the gas industry in 1951 the industry as a whole asked for assistance for a period of two years until the new electricity prices came into force, after which period it was said that the gas industry generally would be in a better competitive position. “The Government has carried out all its obligations regarding the subsidy payments to the industry, and. in fact has continued the subsidy until the end of March next. “The Government has already given the Napier Gas Company substantial financial assistance, and has always been prepared to consider a request for assistance to help it to restore its plant and equipment at Hastings,” the Minister said. He added that he had been informed that no application had been made in the last two years to the price control authorities for any increase in price of gas in Hastings.