“Coal Could Earn Funds”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31151, 30 August 1966, Page 18

“Coal Could Earn Funds”

(N.Z. Press Association)

GREYMOUTH, August 29.

“We should not adopt a ‘dog in the manger’ attitude over our coking coal. There are millions of tons of it lying in the hills and nothing is being done with it when we could be earning valuable overseas funds,” said Mr J. M. McNulty at a meeting of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce tonight.

Mr McNulty was commenting on the announcement of the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand) that New Zealand coking coal would not be sold to Japan. “I have been a member of this chamber for 10 years. All that time we have been trying to get a market in Japan for our coking coal, because no attempt is being made to utilise it in New Zealand,” said Mr McNulty. The Japanese steel mills should not have the coal at

an uneconomic price, said Mr McNulty, but he was certain they would pay the market value.

Taking the opposite view to Mr McNulty, Mr D. Hardie said it would be an unwise move to sell New Zealand’s best coking coal to Japan. If the deal had gone ahead, the coal industry would have been in the same position as afforestation.

Mr McNulty said it was conspicuous that Mr Shand had not “come out into the open and made public the real reason why the Japanese deal was not completed.”

Mr Hardie said that Paparoa coal was the best coking coal in the world. It was too valuable an asset in New Zealand to be shipped to Japan.

Repeating that the coal should not be sold at a giveaway price, Mr McNulty said he would like to know the reason it was not being sold when there was a market. The mining industry needed all the markets possible, he said. “We did not know why timber was not cut and taken from the West Coast years ago,” said Mr Hardie. “Now that there are by-products and timber treatment plants we

realise the real value of timber.” Mr Hardie said the coal would be utilised to the best advantage of New Zealand at the right time. Mr F. W. Baillie said it might be worth waiting; the Government had something in view for the coal. The chamber decided not to take any action yet on the announcement by Mr Shand.