Commissioner speaks up for Mr Dalgety

Press, 14 January 1982, Page 4

Commissioner speaks up for Mr Dalgety

PA Auckland Mr Justice Mahon, the oneman Royal Commission on the Air New Zealand DCIO crash on Mount Erebus, said yesterday that he did not think an airline board member and Wellington lawyer. Mr J. D. Dalgety. had acted “improperly." His comment came on the same day that he had talked to the airline’s new chairman, Mr R. A. Owens, but •Judge Mahon said he had not been approached by anyone to speak out in defence of Mr Dalgety. Judge Mahon said there appeared to be a general misunderstanding about Mr Dalgety’s conduct with regard to the Royal Commission.

But, he said, “My personal opinion is that Mr Dalgety did not act improperly with regard to any aspect of the Royal Commission hearings."

He said the confusion arose when he was reported in newspapers as- saying that he was “distressed” to hear that members of the legal profession had made a decision not to produce to the Royal Commission documents which were relevant to the inquiry. “I was here referring to the decision of the company’s lawyers to withhold production of the in-house committee file," said Judge Mahon. "This was not produced until the Commission had been sitting for several weeks, and then only under compulsion

of an order for discovery." Judge Mahon said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Dalgety directed non-disclosure of documents to the Royal Commission. Mr Dalgety was solely preoccupied with the question of insurance, said Judge Mahon, and when he directed that nothing should be recorded in writing about the cause of the accident he had clearly in mind the company’s responsibility to its insurers concerning the future claims by relatives of passengers. Judge Mahon said that if he had been aware of the existence of Mr Dalgety’s sub-committee he would have asked him to attend the inquiry and to give such information in his power which might assist him (Judge Mahon) in his task. He said Mr Dalgety would no doubt have explained that his direction against personnel putting in writing their respective opinions had been confined to the insurance aspects of the disaster, as indeed the minutes clearly recorded.

“I would have accepted that explanation without hesitation," he said.

Judge Mahon said Mr Dalgety gave no instruction that documents were to be withheld from the, Commission. He took no part, said Judge Mahon, “and was probably unaware of the presentation of those parts of the technical evidence which I felt obliged to reject."

Judge Mahon said there had been a great deal of understandable confusion about the directors' minutes and other documents.

“I thought it wrong that Mr Dalgety’s career as a lawyer should be overshadowed by an apparent imputation which in my opinion is unfounded. \ I could have stood by in-silence, but this matter has been troubling me for some days, and I think it right to come out in the open and say what 1 think," Judge Mahon said. Mr Dalgety is on holiday 'at Taupo and could not be reached last evening. The lawyer who headed the airline’s legal team at the Commission. 'Mr Lloyd Brown, Q.C.. yesterday declined to comment on Judge Mahon's remarks, saying he would not enter a public debate of a client’s affairs, Mr Owens confirmed last evening that he had met Mr Justice Mahon in Auckland yesterday.

“He came to Air J NewZealand at my request. It was most important I heard from him." Mr Owens said.

“We were extremely courteous to each other. I have a great respect for the law in this country and the good manner in which it is administered,” he said. But he thought that if Judge Mahon had had two assessors with him at the hearing they' might have been able to help.