Praise and a pledge to Nelsonians by new M.P.

Press, 8 July 1976, Page 2

Praise and a pledge to Nelsonians by new M.P.

Parliamentary reporter A pledge to the people of Nelson that he would work faithfully and hard was I given by Mr M. Coumteney (Lab., Nelson) in his maiden speech in the Address-in- ; Reply debate in Parliament [last night. He had in fact made an ) impressive speech earlier during the hearing of eulogies to the late Speaker (Sir Stanley Whitehead) in the first week of the session. He devoted much of his speech in praise of Nelson, its works and place in New Zealand. “Nelson is to me, as it is to all Nelsonians, one of the . most important areas in ( New Zealand. You kno.w, . even as far back as 1850 Nelson was the second -iost , important town in New Zealand, that is according to the ; New Zealand Company’s ; records, which gave the fol- ' lowing population figures for that year: Wellington ' 5479; Nelson 4047; Otago 1842; Canterbury 301. “We Nelsonians cherish a 1 pride in the fact that our city was named after England’s naval hero, Lord Nelson. Such street names as Trafalgar, Hardy, Nile and Collingwood emphasise the association with Lord Nelson. This is largely due, I feel, to the quality of our first settlers whose foreThought and planning led to •the very early establishment of our Cawthron Institute, our library and our museum from which I am proud to say we can produce a fine display of the very best historical material.

“Nelson has also been well endowed with cultural institutions, the most notable being the School of Music, which has an extremely high reputation as does the Theatre Royal and our Bishop Suter Art Gallery. “These long-estat’.’shed institutions have been responsible for encouraging artistic and culturally minded people to Nelson and this is evident by the various handicrafts and art work that is carried out in our area. “We have a high reputation for pottery and some of our potters have achieved world recognition. As well as pottery, painting, sculpture, wood carving and weaving are carried out within the region. “I also consider that we should be noted as a centre for education. Both Nelson College and Nelson College for Girls are backed by strong traditions dating from their foundation in the early days of the Nelson settlement. ‘Then, as well as these we have new schools with some of the most up-to-date educational facilities. They are Brichwood School, Auckland Point School, Nayland

College and of course Nelson Polytechnic. “Mr Speaker, Nelson is one of the most desirable places in New Zealand in which to live. As member of Parliament for Nelson I am charged with the responsibility to see that it stays that way. “This will mean, in my view, keeping a balance between environmentalists and developers. If we don’t I could well see pollution from industry and the consequent ecological damage being one of our major problems in the future. It is necessary that a responsible stand is taken now so as to protect the Nelson way of “We Nelsonians must concentrate on preserving the marine life of Tasman Bay with emphasis on saving our natural haven and the entire Waimea Estuary. With the help of the Nelson Catchment Board and Cawthron Institute this I am sure can be done. “I would like to see such things as the expansion of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Cawthron Institute activities and to remind the Government that back in 1917 it was Nelson’s Thomas

Cawthron who doubled overnight this country’s spending on science. "I would like to tell the Government also that when more decentralisation of Government departments takes place, as I think it must, Nelson wants to share in that, just as places such as Masterton and Wanganui have in the past. "Sir, it is inevitable that with the local resources that we have, major industry will develop around them and we will accept that. "But we do not want to import major industry for industry’s sake. I feel instead it would be wise to concentrate on encouraging labour-intensive industries which would not represent a threat to our environment. "We want steady progress in Nelson, not too fast and not too slow but steady sustained progress, well planned.” Appealing to the Government to give a lead in matters of regional development and decentralisation, Mr Courteney said, “Nelson’s failure to develop in the past has often been attributed to our isolation. Today we have overcome this problem with our efficient transport system.”