Rowling pressure on board alleged

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 2

Rowling pressure on board alleged

PA Wellingtoni The Government alleged; yesterday that the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) | brought political pressure to bear on the Marginal Lands Board while Minister of Finance during the 1972-75 Labour Government. The Minister of Lands (Mr V. S. Young), the man at the centre of the Fitzgerald loan controversy, reacting to persistent Opposition questioning in Parliament, said that Mr Rowling had asked for the board to review a loan application “in a favourable light”. Mr Young aid Mr Rowling had written to the then Minister of Lands in March, 1973, after a loan application had been declined. “In his letter, Mr Rowling said he was, on the basis of information he had, at a loss to understand why the application had been declined and asked it to be reviewed in a favourable light. “After that, it was still turned down and then a subcommittee of the board was formed and, strangely enough, its decision changed,” Mr Young said. . The board had rejected the second application because it was outside general policy, Mr Young said. “But?! believe a certain amount, of duress was put on. the board.” According .to Mr Young, the path of the loan-appli-cation in which Mr Rowling took an interest closely paralleled that followed by the loan for the Fitzgeralds, which has been made the subject of a commission of inquiry. Mr Young’s statement was prompted by a question by Mr G. W. R. Palmer (Labour, Christchurch; Central), who asked on. how many occasions since January, 1976, ah application to the Marginal Lands Board had been approved after being twice previously declined after examination by the board. Mr Young said the Director of Lands (Mr N. S. Coad) had informed him that such information could be gleaned only after, searching more than 400 files. However, the situation was not unprecedented as was evidenced by the 1973 case involving Mr Rowling. - ' Mr Young tabled t\Vo letters — that from Mr Rowling and another from the Acting Minister of Lands on that case.

Later, in a statement outside the House, Mr Rowling said Mr Young was being “pathetic.” “There is simply no comparison,. in the two cases,” Mr Rowling said. “My approach (on behalf of the applicant) was *iade when I

was the Minister of Finance, in my capacity as member for Tasman, on behalf of a I constituent.

“Mr Young, by comparison, was a Minister of Lands, writing to his own department, on behalf of personal friends, who were not constituents.

“My letter, on behalf of a constituent, naturally asked for a favourable review. I do that in all cases for constituents I take to Ministers, whether that Minister is National or Labour, and I will continue to do so. Every other member should also,” Mr Rowling said. “When the application was declined, there' the matter rested, as far as I was concerned. Mr Young, on the other hand, went to the point of pleading for his friends before a board of which he was the chairman,” Mr Rowling said. The letter by Mr Rowling to the then Minister of Lands, (Mr Rata,) says that Mr Rowling had recently been approached by a constituent at Paturau River, via Collingwood, Nelson, seeking a review of his application for loan assistance from the Marginal Lands Board. The name of the constituent is inked out in the tabled letter but Mr Rowling later named the fanner as Mr Phillip Win. In his letter, Mr Rowling says it appeared that in spite of a favourable report from the board’s Nelson subcommittee, the application was rejected. This had had a number of consequential effects of other properties that had changed hands as a result of Mr Win’s taking over the property. , . . “I must say on the basis of the information that I have, I at a loss . to understand why Mr Wm s application was declined, and would ask that it be reviewed in a favourable light,” Mr Rowling told Mr Rata. Mr Rowling said later in a statement that the fact that the $24,000 loan was approved by the Nelson subcommittee of the board was in direct contrast to the Fitzgerald case, The records in the Nelson Lands and Survey branch showed he had been approached on the case _by both the vendor, a Mr King, and the purchaser, Mr Win, Mr Rowling said. Mr Young, in a statement, said that Mr Rata had replied to Mr Rowling the next week saying that he had referred Mr Rowling’s representations to the Marginal Lands Boird and had instructed them to reconsider Mr Win’s application.

The board subsequently reconsidered the application at its April, 1973, meeting, and confirmed its earlier decision to decline the application.

Mr Young said that at its M a y , 1973, meeting after further consideration, the board resolved to send a sub-com-mittee to inspect the property with power to act, and a loan was’ approved by the sub-commitete. .

In a letter dated May 24* 1973, Mr Rata advised Mr Rowling the loan had been approved and said: “Your office was advised immediately a decision to approve the loan was known and I understand that you then advised Mr Win

But he did table a letter arising from a meeting' on April 5, 1974, when the Marginal Lands Board was advised Mr Win had disposed of part of his proper-

tyThe then Minister of Lands (Mr Faulkner) wrote to Mr Rowling informing him of this matter and saying: “Advice has now been received that Mr Win has sold his home farm and repaid his debt to the Marginal Lands Board. “The board is rather disappointed that this has arisen, especially in view of t: 3 effort made by you on Mr Win’s behalf and - by the board’s willingness to act outside its normal policy in an effort to assist ; this man.” Mr Faulkner’s letter also revealed that Mr Win had sought the $24,000 loan to refinance the first mortgage over a 309 ha property which he had bought in September, 1972.

The new property was at Collingwood, 70km from what Mr Faulkner termed “his barely economic home farm.” , f Mr Faulkner said the Collingwood' property was bought - solely on short-term vendor mortgage. Both the Marginal Lands committee and the board considered Mr Win “most imprudent” in entering into such a transaction.

“The board initially considered that Mr Win’s application should not be supported as the board could be placed in a difficult position if farms could be bought on short-term finance with the owners later: applying for Marginal Lands assistance. . “However, after your representations ■ and a further inspection of the properties, the board was satisfied that Mr Win would farm both properties satisfactorily and, although it was concerned about Mr Win’s imprudence, resolved to approve the loan,” Mr Faulkner told Mr Rowling.