COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27795, 21 October 1955, Page 12

COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE

MOVE BY N.Z. GAS ASSOCIATION PUBLIC ACQUISITION DISCUSSED (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 20. The annual conference today of the Gas Association of New Zealand Set up a committee to consider the future of the gas industry and report to a • general meeting. It did this after discussing the proposed public acquisi- ■ tion of the industry. The meeting was , held in Wellington. The committee consists of the chair--1 man of the executive, Mr H. D. Chrisp; : Mr R. Worley (Auckland) representing gas companies with an annual cutout of more than 200,000,000 cubic • feet; Mr F. W. Browne (Napier), repre- , senting smaller companies; Mr R. P. Wakelin (Carterton), representing : municipalities owning gas enterprises ; but not electricity enterprises; and . Mr F. Jones (Dunedin), representing municipalities controlling both gas and electricity enterprises. Mr Chrisp said that any proposed bill should be deferred to enable mature consideration. No gasworks i should be declared non-essential until they had been taken over. Mr J. Poole (Dannevirke), said that if there was to be no legislation this i'year something would have to be done to assure gas consumers that they ' would not be forced to change to electricity. It had been known for several years that the matter was ’ coming up. and to delay would only ruin both gas consumers and the com- : I panics. Mr J. Hunter (Westport) said no- • body had a right to dictate what gas enterprises should be taken over. West- ’ port had an efficient gas system and; nothing was more horrible than the ■ ! thought that it should be taken over I • by the power board. , Mr Browne said the question of! acquisition had been raised because the : ! Government was tiring of paying the ’ . subsidy, which was not having the' ’ desired effect of maintaining the in- : : dustry at full strength. Postponement ! , of acquisition would play into the hands of the power boards because in ; ’ the meantime the gas enterprises; • would lose more customers and become • i weaker still. Supporting the proposal to appoint; : a committee, Mr Jones said the con-1 sumers were a most important part of; . the industry. He suggested that volun- 1 tary acquisition of gas industry units ; 'by a corporation, similar to the i acquisition of New Zealand airlines I and radio stations, would be better • than the present proposal. ’ Mr F. S. Johns (New Plymouth) said It was illogical to suggest that power boards would necessarily let gas • enterprises decline, as some speakers ; had done, because the power boards . themselves were short of power. ’ Mr Chrisp said he wished to say.> • publicly, that the industry offered co- I operation and help in devising a plan , ’ for ttieco-ordlnation of power and heat I