N.Z.’s Taxpayers May Be Called On To Aid Coast

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29824, 17 May 1962, Page 15

N.Z.’s Taxpayers May Be Called On To Aid Coast

That the Government might be justified in calling upon the taxpayers of New Zealand in order to avoid the collapse of the economy of the West Coast, was an opinion expressed by the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand) in a letter to the Runanga Borough Council. Mr Shand had, earlier, received a deputation in Wellington comprised of the Mayor of Runanga (Mr C, R. Wylde) and the Town Clerk (Mr W J. Curragh) regarding the provision of a sewerage scheme for the borough, estimated to cost something like £lOO.OOO. In suggesting that the request for assistance should be deferred for about nine months, the Minister wrote; “I fully appreciate the difficulties facing the Runanga borough and am sympathetic toward your request for special assistance As I said at our interview. I am deeply concerned at the problems facing the whole of the West Coast as a result of the decline which has already been experienced in the coal trade, and probably further deterier and Westland, as a result from the discovery of natural gas in Taranaki. "First, you have asked me what assurance I can give you of the future of the coal industry as it affects Runanga. Strongman and Liverpool type coals are likely to be the last in the country to experience a serious falling off In demand, and to that extent the future of Runanga is more assured than that of other mining towns More than that I cannot say with any certainty at this point of time “Then, you ask whether similar assistance could be given to that which is given in power project settlements I do hot think there is any basis of comparison between the two. the proper comparison being, rather, with other existing towns desiring to provide this

amenity. On the other hand, the situation in Bulle rand Westland, as a result of deteriorataion in the coal market, may well deteriorate to the point where the Government is justified in calling on the taxpayers of the country as a whole to provide substantia! assistance to avoid collapse of the economy of the district. “The Government has had a committee of senior officers preparing a report on the situation with a view to estimating what steps are likely to be taken to alleviate the difficulty. It is Only in the light of such a report, when completed, that special assistance could be contemplated, “I suggest that you should defer the application tor, say, nine months, when I hope the full implications of the impact of natural gas will be undedstood and the extent of necessary assistance can be more accurately measured.” Mr Shand concluded.