Energy potential ‘brightest hope’

Press, 28 May 1979, Page 2

Energy potential ‘brightest hope’

New Zealand may become a big exporter of energy to the Asian and Pacific Basin, and at the same time reduce its own dependence on imported liquid fuels, according to the president of the National Party (Mr G. A. Chapman). Mr Chapman told the annual conference of the

party’s Canterbury-Westland division at the week-end that New Zealand’s brightest! hope lay in its biggest problem at present, the area of' energy. New Zealand was one of the most energy-rich countries of the world, with big reserves of natural gas, coal,

hydro and geothermal power, and the future prospect of biomass. “The big decision ahead of New Zealanders in the field of energy is not so much

how we should use the resources that we have but whether we should export some of our vast reserves of coal, and more particularly, natural gas. And if so, in what form?” said Mr Chapman.

“In the energy field, difficult decisions need to be made involving the , expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

The 1980 s, now only seven months sway, would bring the most dramatic changes I seen in the history of New Zealand, said Mr Chapman. In case delegates at the conference had other ideas, Mr Chapman emphasised that only a National Government ;could carry New Zealand Through the decade.

“We should look to the decade of the 1980 s as a I period of challenge and opportunity, of growth and developmen’ — but only with a National Government: a National Government that stands for individual effort and initiative, backed by thrift, self-reliance and effi-

ciency; a National Government that stands for individual ownership, the growth of private enterprise, and healthy competition,” Mr Chapman says.

New’ Zealand faced a situation similar to that of the 1880 s, when refrigerated transport had dramatically changed the country’s future, he said. “History may well record Britain’s membership of the

Common Market as the turning point for New Zealand; whether for better or i for worse lies in our own hands."

Mr Chapman outlined three key factors which influenced the country’s development, its growth and its ability to underwrite its social welfare system.

They were the effect of Britain’s membership of he E.E.C.; New Zealand’s total dependence on imported fuel; and the impact of a long period of world-wide i inflation and recession. i Inflation was the root cause of many present problems and of much of the industrial unrest, Mr Chapman said. It influenced widely diverse subjects such as relativity disputes, rates of interest on Government securities, farmers’ returns, and social welfare benefits. Growth was also restricted by the balance-of-payments deficit, which was almost identical with the increased cost of oil since 1973. “When we look at the problems, it is easy to be pessimistic about our country’s future," Mr Chapman said. New Zealand, like every other country, had its short-term problems, but its energy potential gave cause for an optimistic view of the future.