Mr Galvin calls for steel inquiry

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 15

Mr Galvin calls for steel inquiry

PA Auckland The leader of the New Zealand Party, Mr John Galvin, wants a public inquiry into the political deci-sion-making behind New Zealand Steel’s expansion project. He said such an investigation would disclose how the troubled steelmaker was given the go-ahead in 1981 and provide ground rules to prevent future huge losses of taxpayers’ money. Mr Galvin said that the former Minister of Energy and “think big” architect, Mr Birch, was stretching the bounds of credibility in his continued attempts to justify the plant. “An objective analysis of the various projects shows that they were ill-conceived,

that the decision to proceed with them was political, and that the net result has been to cost the taxpayer billions of dollars,” Mr Galvin said. - “Despite that, Mr Birch persists in his pathetic selfJustification. “The time is long overdue for some sort of public inquiry into all aspects of the decision-making process that led to the go-ahead for the various projects.” Mr Galvin said that. it was time elected officials were held accountable for decisions which cost the nation huge sums of money. An inquiry would resolve the row between .the Government and the former administration by finding Who was responsible for the state of New Zealand Steel.