BROADCAST ON COOK STRAIT POWER CABLE PLANNED

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28222, 9 March 1957, Page 2

BROADCAST ON COOK STRAIT POWER CABLE PLANNED

“My intention is to approve the broadcast of a ' discussion by a competent panel as soon as the full evidence can be released to provide the material for it.” said the Minister in charge of Broadcasting (Mr R. M. Algie) in a letter to Mr Arthur Lush, of Christchurch, who had written to him asking about a broadcast discussion on the Cook Strait power cable proposal.

The broadcast was not “banned,” said the Minister, but "deferred.” He could not say when the broadcast would take place. “I can tell you. however,” Mr Algie said, "that the Broadcasting Service is giving serious thought to the choice of a panel which will have the best possible representative status and competence. The discussion will, of course, be carried by a link of the four YA (or YC) stations, at least; it is a .little too soon to consider what wider use may be arranged.” The original broadcast scheduled for last May was to be a discussion between a panel of speakers in Wellington and a Christchurch panel. Members of the Christchurch panel were to have been Mr D. W. Bain, secretary of the Canterbury Progress League; Mr E. Hitchcock, a former general manager of the Christchurch Municipal Electricity Department; Mr L. C. Walker, and Mr Lush. “I thought that the position was somewhat similar to the case where a problem was referred to a judicial body for discussion—in lawyers’ language, it is what you might at the moment call subjudice.” said Mr Algie at the time of the broadcast’s cancellation. In his letter to the Minister Mr Lush said: “Your standpoint was

that the matter was ‘sub judice.’. Any such matter must surely have both sides of the question put before the court concerned before any decision can be given. The State Hydro-electric Department did not respect your opinions on publicity, as it continued to make public its advocacy of the power cable proposal, and as yet there has been no opoprtunity to put the other side of the case before the public or before the Cabinet.” Recent statements favouring more geothermal development first had been made public. Mr Lush said. “Now we are given to understand that the Ministry of Works has the same idea. Put the main fallacies of the State Hydro-electric Department's proposal remain unknown to the public, and probably unknown to the Cabinet also.”

Now that the report on the cable proposal had been prepared. Mr Lush made three requests to Mr Algie. They were:— “That copies of the report be made available to members of those groups who were to discuss the matter last year, allowing for any changes in personnel. “That opportunity for the broadcast discussion be given before the Cabinet comes to any decision about the Cook Strait proposal. “That the discussion be broadcast over all national stations. “If. on the other hand. ’ Mr Lush said, “broadcast discussion be delayed or banned until after Cabinet has reached its decision, the procedure would be like that of a court in which only the plaintiffs were allowed to be heard before judgment was given, after which the defendants were allowed to take part in a balanced discussion, but too late to affect the judgment.” x