STATE STEAMER’S ALLEGED BEER CARGO FOR NOUMEA

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 October 1948, Page 2

STATE STEAMER’S ALLEGED BEER CARGO FOR NOUMEA

[SPECIAL TO STAR] WELLINGTON, This Day.

Some 10,000 cases of beer were carried by the Government lighthouse steamer Matai when she left Auckland for Noumea recently, said Mr W. H. Fortune (Opposition—Eden) in the House of Representatives this week. He raised the matter during a discussion on the Navy Department’s estimates and asked the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, to give the House an explanation for this cargo. Mr T. P. Paikea (Government — Northern Maori): It will be a wet trip. Mr Jones said he understood the ship was doing a special job. He did not know anything about the beer, but he did not think it would be for the crew. There must be some .special reason for taking it. When asked later for his comment the Secretary of Marine, Mr AV. C. Smith, said that as the Matai was taking ' 150 tons of cement from Tarakohe, Nelson, to Noumea, there would not be much room for beer. Other general cargo had been loaded before the vessel left Auckland. She would return to New Zealand with a shipment of steel, which had been used in New Caledonia for military purposes.