PARLIAMENT Feud Between Minister And Predecessor Alleged

Press, Volume C, Issue 29623, 20 September 1961, Page 16

PARLIAMENT Feud Between Minister And Predecessor Alleged

(NX Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 19. . Allegations of a vendetta between the present Minister of Electricity and Works (Mr Goosman) and his predecessor, Mr H. Watt (Opposition, Onehunga), were made by Opposition members in the House of Representatives today.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Nash) had moved the adjournment of the House to discuss the action of the Government in stopping work on the Maraetai No. 2 power scheme and the displacement of about 500 men employed there.

The motion required at least five supporters in the House and when the Speaker (Mr Algie) called for these, all the members of the Opposition, except two, stood to indicate that they supported the motion for the adjournment. Mr Nash moved his motion soon after 3 p.m. and it was talked out at the tea adjournment at 5.30 p.m.

Mr Nash said 500 men might be displaced by the Government’s action. In areas near Mangakino 29 men had already been dismissed. ’7 want the Government to say where there is alternative employment for these men,” said Mr Nash “I am satisfied this action should not be taken.” The cost of putting the scheme “into mothballs" would have to be faced, and the country might be short of power long before it could be finished. Mr Nash said £3 million out of the estimated £4.2 million for the civil engineering works at Maraetai No. 2 had been spent, and the generators were nearly ready for shipment from overseas. He asked whether the Government had had time to consider the report of the Power Planning Committee “No Recommendation”

Mr Nash said he could not find any straightforward recommendation in the report that Maraetai No. 2 should be closed down.

“There will be a problem in three or four years, and it is inevitable that we shall be short of power again,” said Mr Nash. “Electric power is required more than anything else for the growth of manufacturing.

“There is some feud between the present Minister of Works and the previous Minister of Works with regard to the Cook Strait cable,” said Mr Nash.

Mr Nash suggested that there was a conflict between two Government departments, Works and Electricity. Mr Goosman was' taking notice of only one department, and there was vendetta against Mr Watt The Minister of Labour (Mr Shand): That is a wicked, cruel statement. Mr Nash went on to point out that the gas-turbine station planned for Korokoro would require at least £500,000 a year for imported oil

He said it was not right to take hundreds of Waikato Maoris working at Mangakino, where they were doing a grand job, to Manapouri. Costa Compared

Mr Nash said the Cook Strait cable would involve more expenditure of overseas funds than Matahina and Maraeti No 2 together These stations would provide more power while the Cook Strait cable would involve losses of power in transmission.

Mangakino township could not live on the adjacent agricultural and pastoral district said Mr Nash Mr A E Allen (Government, Franklin) said Mr Nash had claimed t’at there was not enough water in Roxburgh to run two generators and credence therefore could

No. 2 and putting it into mothballs. “He has been converted to the National Party politically and electrically,” said Mr Mathison. Mr J. H. George (Government, Otago CentraD said the decision to go ahead with Maraetai No. 2 had been a political move to create a diversion from the Cook Strait cable, which was a "hot potato” for the Opposition members holding the Dunedin seats. Mr A, Hudson (Otmosition. Mornington): That’s ridiculous. Mr George said that it would be very expensive to have a station sueh as Marae•ai No 2 running half an hour a day Shortage Forecast Mr Watt said the decision to stop work on Maraetai No. 2 could affect the future employment of thousands of workers. “If there is a power shortage in 1964-65—as there could well be —many workers in the North Island might find difficulty in getting employment.” he said. ’Those who sav the construction of Maraetai No 2 was started because of deferment of the Cook Strait cable don’t know what they are talking about The principle of a peak-load station to supplement the base-load station has got nothing at all to do with the Cock Strait cable.” Mr Watt said the manager of the Electricity Department (Mr A. E Davenport) had signed the 1959 report which made provision for a peak-load station at Maraetal. He had also signed the 1960 rerrort which provided for work at Maraetai. Dept. Recommendation Mr Goosman promised the Government would do every‘hing to see that as little hardship as possible was suffered by workers and their families at Mangakino. Mr Goosman said he had received reports from the heads of the Electricity and Works departments recommending that the question of stopping work at Maraetai No. 2 should be considered. He said he had taken the matter to the Cabinet which decided there was a case for stopping work, provided the power committee considered the report. The committee had set out the facts in its report which stated that work should be stored. “The thing we’ve got to get into our heads is that Maraetai No. 2 doesn’t produce anything” Mr Goosman said An oil-fired turbine station at Korokoro could have been constructed at a much lower cost than Maraetai No 2 Korokoro should have come into operation on April 1 next year “I regret the position we find ourselves in now. I regret the waste of money and the position of the people at Mangakino, but the Government will take every step to look after those people,” Mr Goosman said.

□of be placed on what he said.

“There may have been a vendetta, but it was started by Mr Watt, being completely unfitted for the job and by his maladministration of the portfolio,” said Mr Allen. He said the Opposition had moved a vote of no confidence in the Power Planning Committee, which signed the report on which the Government had acted. The report proved that Maraetai No. 2 would prove to be a white elephant for some years to come

“Mr Watt lost the confidence of every supply authority in New Zealand.” said Mr Allen.

An Opposition member: That is not correct.

Change of Control Mr Allen said New Zealand had to double its power output every eight years at the present rate of growth. “I am sorry £3m to £4m has been wasted on Maraetai No. 2 because ~f the ineptitude of Mr Watt. The sooner we take the generation of power away from political control the better.” said Mr Allen

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Skinner) said that before he joined the National Party, Mr A. E Allen was one of Mr Goosman’s greatest critics. Mr Allen: That’s right.

Mr Skinner said Maraetai No. 2 was started on the advice of the Ministry of Works and the chief engineer of the Electricity Department. Mr P. B. Allen (Government, Bay of Plenty) said Mr Goosman had gathered a committee of experts round him to plan the generation of electricity. Mr Watt, when he became Minister, sacked the committee.

Two-thirds of Mangakino was temporary accommodation said Mr Allen, but the township was reasonably permanent, and it would continue to be a reasonably good little township within a good farming district. Cost of Decision Mr J. Mathison (Opposition, Avon) said the question was serious from the point of view of the men and from the point of view of supply of electricity He had expected Mr A. E Allen to tell the House the cost of tapering off Maraetai