Socred defends pact with Govt

Press, 27 September 1982, Page 2

Socred defends pact with Govt

PA Wellington Social Credit has defended its pact with the Government on the Clyde issue, saying the gains it had made were significant. It was reacting to assertions by the Labour Party’s environment spokesman, Mr C. R. Marshall, that none of the terms which Social Credit negotiated to ensure its support for the special Clyde legislation had any effect on Government policy. The party leader,, Mr Beetham, said this was “the first time a government had had to come down from its high and. mighty perch and treat with a third party in a significant way, and grant significant concessions in the process.” Mr Beetham said that, politically, the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, and the Government had to try to play down the significance of the concessions they had had to make.

The two most important concessions were on irrigation and power pricing, Mr Beetham said. The Government said in answers to written questions

this week that Social Credit’s power price demand was lower than its own minimum and that irrigation policies were unchanged by the pact.

Mr Beetham said however, that the Government had now agreed to a written commitment to develop irrigation in Central Otago. This was in conjunction with the Clutha power stations.

“The Government is now required to make irrigation a primary consideration in the development of the Clutha, which was not previously the case.”

The Government had been forced to agree to a specific base figure for the charging out of electricity, said Mr Beetham.

The figure included an escalation clause based on increases in average generating costs, which the • Social Credit leader said was a major concession because it reflected the impact of marginally more expensive schemes, • and would rise faster than the inflation rate. This would make it “almost impossible” to give the power away to major projects, Mr Beetham said.