Dissent on dam may be settled

Press, 17 June 1982, Page 1

Dissent on dam may be settled

FA Wellington , Government caucus ' dissent over changed in the law j to allow the building of the i Clyde high dam may be settled next week. Two of the three members of. Parliament who' njade public) their opposition to the intention to change the law — the hew backbenchers. Mr S. D. Upton (Waikato) and Miss,.,” Ruth. ' -Richardson (Selwyn) said- yesterday, that they would make statements ■ within the week... ' ' They would'*., not. say whether they .•• would ' vote with their Government colleagues when the; bill was introduced. Mr Upton said that they still- had •■‘-one or two things to clear up.” “• i - All caucus members‘now had a "good grasp of the issues,” This. had not been, the case when the tla'w change, was mooted. • The. third member of. Parliament, Mr M. J. Mi- . ndgue (Hamilton West) said that he was still considering the arguments put up by Government spokesmen. • -He had asked for “convincing or compelling” reasons for the law change, saying that Government ’ plans. to alter the rules were "extraordinary.” •The Government caucus is due to meet on June 24. Mr Upton said that he and Miss Richardson planned to make : their statements before then. .(Because the Opposition and Social Credit are solidly against the bill, any caucus . rebellion would put the Government’s. narrow majority at risk. •• The. former Minister of Works,- Mr Derek Quigley, yesterday reaffirmed • his backing for the party approach over the Clutha. , “It is important people feel that they are part of the decision-making process," he said." . ■. The members of Parliament who expressed reservations about the Clyde legislation have been" given an abundance of reading material by their colleagues. Mr’Upton said that he had gone into; aspects including power planning and project delays, and “the whole thing is very disturbing.” y;; This concern carried right through the town and country planning, water and soil, and public works legislation, and the. National Development Act: ’ '