Five hours of talks before Clyde deal signed

Press, 15 July 1982, Page 1

Five hours of talks before Clyde deal signed

NZPA chief political reporter

The Clyde high dam compromise was finally signed by Social Credit and the Government last evening.

The signing of the agreement. which will enable work on the dam to continue and guarantee Social Credit's votes for enabling legislation, if the judicial process ultimately finds against the Government, came after about five hours of top-level talks at Parliament Buildings.

The agreement will be referred to the Controller and Auditor-General. Mr A. C. Shades, today, but the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said that he had no doubt that Mr Shailes would agree.

The new talks were called by an angry Social Credit leader (Mr Beetham), who had earlier accused the Government of “gross misrepresentation" in the manner in which it portrayed the deal, after tentative agreement was announced on Wednesday evening.

Mr Beetham said the Government had deliberately left out one area of Central Otago from four districts specified by Social Credit for irrigation, in the draft. The draft had also misinterpreted the conditions on power-pric-ing for the Aramoana aluminium smelter and had speci-. fied legislation as the ultimate Government option if the judicial process eventually found against it. Social Credit believed that there were other options. All three points had been corrected in the draft returned to the Government before the talks yesterday. In spite, of Mr Beetham’s strong stance before the talks, little of substance seemed to have changed in the five hours. Mr Muldoon emerged from the meeting to tell reporters that there had been "some second thoughts on the wording but it is all agreed.”: The changes were "cosmetic,” he said. But Mr Beetham said later, “As far as I am con-

cerned it was essentially our draft that formed the basis for the final agreement . . .

not the drafts that came from the Government."

The pricing arrangement for the proposed Aramoana aluminium smelter, or other energy-intensive projects, dominated vesterdav's talks.

Mr Beetham relented on his morning insistence that the minimum price should be set at the cost of actually generating the power. The arrangement now allows power to be supplied to the smelter or other major users at a rebate of "less than 25 per cent." Social Credit also backed away on its insistence that the eventual power price be made public and that the agreement provided for publication at the discretion of the companies involved.

Of the other clauses in Social Credit's original proposal, the Government has agreed to withdraw its enabling legislation but reserves the right to overcome any eventual adverse judicial decision “by such means as the Government deems appropriate at that point."

There is no reference in the ' agreement to Social Credit’s original suggestion that Parliament would transform itself into the “highest court in the land” to grant the required water right.

The guarantee on the levels of Lake Wanaka have been given as proposed by the league. Of the central Otago irrigation schemes, the Government has agreed to proceed • with the Earnscleugh, Pisa, Tarras, and Manuherikia schemes simultaneously with the Clutha ■ hydro scheme, provided that they are shown to be economic and wanted by landowners. The Government has also promised to fund a feasibility study if a. specific proposal is received ; "either for an alternative use of the existing works, or for a new works, or for a new industry in Patea.”

Mr Beetham told reporters that while many of the concessions might already have been Government policy, "policy without commitment is meaningless.” "What this agreement does is extract certain commitments out of the Government. That is what we were after and that- is what we have got. If anybody can come up with a better solution, let him do it,” he said.. “I believe that what we have negotiated is a com-mon-sense, reasonable, and fair solution to an extremely

vexed problem," said Mr Beetham.

Mr Muldoon told a press conference that if he Was one of the objectors appearing before the tribunal he would end his case now. It was obvious that the dam should be built, because it would do the greatest good for the greatest number. “We are talking about the national interest. When these people (Social Credit) went down there they realised that.

“Mr Beetham was intelligent enough to say, 'Well, it’s got to be done, I am going to change sides and take what’s coming.' Mr Rowling lacked that kind of intelligence, or he had a group of people up here who would not let him." said Mr Muldoon. The Minister of Works and Development (Mr Friedlander) and Mr Muldoon confirmed that they had removed some parts of their initial draft which listed ; National achievements and which had been described by Mr Beetham as “politicking." But Mr Muldoon said the substance of the final agreement was the same as the draft. He conceded' that the special legislation would now not be put aside and introduced when it was needed — as he had said yesterday. Instead, a new bill would be prepared. If Mr Beetham regarded that as a victory, "then let him have that victory," he said.

Mr Muldoon said that the only change made to the original agreement was’“we said on Wednesday evening that we had agreed that we would sell power to industrial users at a price that would not be less than the cost of generation ... less a discount of 25. per cent. That would be the minimum price. "That price is considerably lower than any price we are negotiating with Pechiney (the Aramoana aluminium smelter consortium technology partner). However, Mr Beetham decided he did not want that and so we have changed it. We have put in, ‘lt is recognised by the parties to this agreement that a rebate of less than 25 per cent may be granted to very high energy users which receive supply under separate arrangements’,” said Mr Muldoon.

That "less than 25 per cent” meant from nil to 24.9 per cent,” and so we altered it by 01 of 1 per cent, and it took five hours to do it,” he said. The Government would not sell power to Pechiney at such a price — "indeed, Pechiney has already offered more than this,” be said.