OIL REFINERY SITE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29336, 15 October 1960, Page 14

OIL REFINERY SITE

Choice Reduced To Two Areas (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Oct. 14. The choice of a site for the oil refinery was between the Hauraki Gulf and Marsden Point, Whangarei, and tests of both areas had been carried out by the Ministry of Works and th? oil companies, said the Minister of Works (Mr Watt), in the House of Representatives this morning. The House was discussing an item of £125,000 on the Supplementary Estimates for purchase and development of land for the oil' refinery. Mr Watt said the Government had not yet received the report on the sites from the oil companies. Twenty sites had been investigated, but the requirements for an oil refinery were so specific that the number of sites naturally became very limited. If a refinery was going to be established away from a built-up area, the Government would be concerned in the establishment of schools and hospitals and services to go with it. If the refinery were to be established close to a built-up area the Government would not be involved to the same extent in providing these services, said Mr Watt. The Government had to consider not only the purchase of land for the refinery but for the industries that would go with it. “The State will own the land and will lease it to the oil companies,” said Mr Watt.

£lOO,OOO GIFT TO CONGO Explanation By Mr Nash (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 14. The Prime Minister (Mr Nash) explained in the House of Representatives today that the New Zealand gift of £lOO,OOO made to the United Nations special fund for assistance to the Congo resulted from a request from the Secretary-General of the United Nations Organisation (Mr Hammarskjold). The grant was announced by Mr Nash while he was at the United Nations in New York recently. Mr R. M. Algie (Opposition, Remuera), speaking on the Supplementary Estimates before the House- today, said it seemed from newspaper reports that the gift appeared to be a “spontaneous one.” If tiiat were the case, there were some people who felt there were plenty of things at home on which the money could be spent. “The Cabinet authorised me to make the announcement at the United Nations Assembly,” said Mr Nash. “We thought it might stimulate other countries to give something at once.”

MENTAL HEALTH BILL (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Oct. 14. A Mental Health Amendment Bill, .which liberalises the conditions under which patients can be admitted to mental hospitals, and in the words of the Minister of Justice (Mr Mason) “simplifies the formalities and makes them less oppressive,” was introduced in the House of Representatives today. Mr Mason said that the bill would not be passed this session. It was being introduced to allow its provisions to be studied. Among the provisions is one which will, when passed, change the name of the Auckland Mental Hospital to Oakley Hospital