NEW CABLE FACTORY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29353, 4 November 1960, Page 12

NEW CABLE FACTORY

Foundation Stone Laid

K was expected that manufacture would begin in July, 1981. said Mr T. N. Bore, vice-chair-man of directors of Austral Standard Cables Pty., Ltd., welcoming guests at a function for the laying of the foundation stone of the company’s factory in Halswell Junction road. Hornby. The stone was laid by the Post-master-General and Minister of Railways (Mr Moohan 1. Mr Bore said the factory would have 90.000 square feet of floor space and was so designed that expansion could take place quickly. Practically all the staff and factory personnel would be recruited locally. Two hundred persons would be employed, including 50 engineers and technicians. This widening scope should be of interest to the university authorities. The thousands of tons of materials entering and of cables leaving the factory would be transported by the railways. Apart from the saving in overseas currency, it would be an undoubted advantage to Post Office engineers to have this manufacturing unit The factory would be of advantage to Chnsiohurch, to the university, and to the country. There had been negotiations for some considerable time about the establishment in New Zealand and the South Island of a new industry which would be of immense value to the country and to the Post Office Department, said Mr Mocha n.

“We spend approximately £1 million a year buying cables. When this factory is established and working next year it will save us £200,000 a year in overseas exchange. It will also save us money in another way. for we will not have to keep so much stock in hand. We keep a year’s supply in stock now,” Mr Moohan said.

More valuable than the savings and convenience to his department would be the opportunity it would give young people to enter a new industry. The industry would grow and the factory might be’ exporting cable in the future. “We are glad to have the company here. I am sure the industry will prosper and be an asset to New Zealand,” he said. After Mr Moohan laid the foundation stone, Mr Bore presented him with an engraved trowel as a memento.

The guests on the dais included Mr D. Donaldson. Director-Gen-eral of the Post Office.