Govt may support inventor

Press, 15 August 1978, Page 2

Govt may support inventor

I Wellington reporter I The Department of Trads and Industry will re-exarriine| the possibility of Govern--ment support for the au-i tomotive inventions of Mrt Colin Lyster, of Nelson. | This comes after an article; in “The Press” on August 2,| in which Mr Lyster criticised the Government and the Development Finance Corporation for their lack of support for the development of an engine and a six-wheel car. The Minister of Trade and I Industry (Mr Adams-Schnei-;der) said he was satisfied

that the department had understood and appreciated the quality of Mr Lyster’s design work. The department had referred to the design as an “extremely impressive achievement,” he said. Both the department and the Development Finance Corporation had recognised that the design had considerable market potential, but had also been painfully aware of the large step from design to commercial realisation in a development of this sort. Without better evidence of its commerical viability than

I was available at the time, I the department and D.F.C. I had been able to do little I more to support Mr Lyster land his associates, he said. i There had been examples tin New Zealand and overseas of brilliant concepts in engine design which had failed commercially, and this I might well have been another. Nevertheless, the D.F.C. I had indicated that it was I prepared to resume disi cussions on possible assistt ance under the Government’s ; applied technology proi gramme, Mr Adams-Schnei-lder said.

Mr Lyster’s skills repre--1 sented a very scarce resource in New Zealand, and he wished to see that any i opportunities those skills offered were fully explored. “Consequently, I have asked my department to re- • open discussions with Mr Lyster to re-examine the , possibility of Government isupport,” the Minister said. Just what form this supi port might take is not yet i clear. The new Ventures Dii vision of the D.F.C. replaced : the old Inventions Devel- ■ opment Authority two years ago. and is better equipped to invest money in Mr Lys-i ter’s inventions. One solution might be to; seek private finance. Support from the department and the D.F.C., should make this easier for Mr Lyster to’ achieve.