What the M.P.s were saying S.I. transport woes, and container selection

Press, 18 October 1976, Page 2

What the M.P.s were saying S.I. transport woes, and container selection

By

CEDRIC MENTIPLAY

South Island unease over transport deprivations had a full airing in Parliament during discussion of the Transport Estimates last week. It was given further heat by -the reported decision of Japanese container lines to use Port Chalmers in preference to Lyttelton, and by Ministerial reaction to this announcement.

Mr M. A. Connelly (Lab., Wigram) said that the former minister, Sir Basil Arthur (Lab., Timaru) had taken over the Ministry of Transport in the doldrums and had put new life and verve into it by his drive and initiative. Now 7 , the department was returning to the doldrums, as was evident from complaints throughout New Zealand. “Road, rail, air, and sea transport services in the South Island are deplorable,” Mr Connelly said. “Erroneous statements have been made about the report of the Public Expenditure Committee ...” The Labour Government, he said, had faced an 85 per cent increase in import costs in its last two years. Contracts expected to be fulfilled this year or later had been completed in time to come within the last financial year. Until mid-De-cember last, the Treasury had been forecasting underexpenditure.

In other words, administrators had been unaware of the likely over-ex-penditure until after the change of government. “Ministry of Transport figures have shown that the economics of using Lyttelton

as a container port are better than those of Port Chalmers,” Mr Connelly said. “Why then, if the economics favour one port, should all the trade go to another?” Mr R. L. G. Talbot (Nat., South Canterbury) said that after a meeting between the Minister of Transport (Mr McLachlan) and the Japanese shipping lines, it had been confirmed that the South Island container service would be run from Port Chalmers. “The Minister and the member for Dunedin North (Mr R. F. Walls, Nat.,) deserve great praise for their work in recent months in developing the container trade for Port Chalmers,” Mr Talbot said. “Action on regional development in the Otago-Southland areas has been most noticeable under the National Government.” Mrs M. D. Batchelor (Lab., Avon) said that the Minister of Transport by his actions and “lack of. understanding of the needs of the people of the South Island,” had left the impression that South Islanders were second-rate citizens.

“Passenger services between the two islands have been axed, with no suggestion of an acceptable replacement,” she said. “Rail services have been depleted, while charges have been increased. Because of lack of suitable transport, many South Island firms are being forced to leave Christchurch and take their factories to the North Island. “All workers in the South Island are at risk because of the Government’s transport policy. Does the Minister really believe that the savings made by the removal of subsidies would compensate for the harm do. a by taking away work from cities in the South Island?” Mrs Batchelor said.

She suggested that the

Government had an obligation to provide a suitable transport system, and that there was no reason why the cost of that system should not be met in part through general taxation. Mr M F. Courtney (Lab., Nelson) said that the estimates showed that the Government had no transport policy and no way of keeping up with inflation or “fantastic” increases in costs.

Nelson people knew that the National Party’s policy was to deny Nelson a railway — they did not believe by-election pamphlets which had said: “New Zealand and Nelson back on the rails”. In the last few months, Nelson had lost the cheap and efficient freight-carrier Te Aroha. “Nelson is also losing a great deal of Melbourne trade because it has no direct shipping link with Melbourne,” Mr Courtney said. “All the six roll-on timber ports in New Zealand have that link, except Nelson. The ship which was working Dunedin, Lyttelton, Wellington, Nelson, and Sydney is now working Melbourne — but has dropped Nelson because of the extra time involved.”

Mr Courtney said he believed that freight from Dunedin was often shipped through Lyttelton to Melbourne.

Mr N. J. Kirk (Lab., Sydneham) was one of those who maintained that the Broadcasting Bill was intended to control news rather than co-ordinate it.

“In 1972, the National Government appointed five National Party members, including the chairman, to the board of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation,” Mr Kirk said. "The total membership of the board was seven. That was all

right for the Government — the five were subject to controls by means of telephone calls late at night.” Mr Kirk said that the Opposition was used to gerrymandering. “First the Government wanted to gerrymander the Maori seats. Now it wants to gerrymander the news services,” he said.

The term “gerrymander” is derived from Governor Gerry, of Massachusetts, about 1812, who achieved a reputation for manipulating electoral boundaries unfairly to secure disproportionate influence at election-time for some party or class. Unfortunately for Mr Kirk’s metaphor, the Boundaries Commission has not yet been called together, or its chairman appointed. The application of the term to broadcasting is obscure. Mr R. P. B. Drayton (Lab., St Albans) said he found it hard to accept Ministerial explanations about delays to the extension of the Christchurch Airport terminal. “Some 44 days after issuing the stop order on planning the extensions, the Minister met the public utilities committee of the Christchurch City Council to explain the position — but had been unable either to do so or to give a firm decision,” Mr Drayton said. “It was reported that the Minister had said that the airport user would have to see the Prime Minister. But the Prime Minister said he had no knowledge of a resumption of planning, and that the Minister was quite capable of dealing with the matter in his own good time. . .

“The Minister said that planning had been stopped as an economy measure; but funds from the $2 overseas departure levy are available in a reserve account to do the work," Mr Drayton said.