N.Z. POTTERY

Grey River Argus, 4 January 1946, Page 5

N.Z. POTTERY

RESEARCH ASSOCIATION SET UP P.A. WELLINGTON, Jan. 3 The inauguration of a New Zealand Pottery and Ceramics Research Association was announced to-day by the Minister of Scientific and Industrial Research, Hon. D. G. Sullivan, who emphasised that the Government was desirous of giving all possible scientific assistance to increase the efficiency of New Zealand industries, both primary and secondary. The activities of the Association, which consisted’ of all the principal firms engaged in the industry concerned, would be very closely linked with surveys and . investigations at present being undertaken by various divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, notably the Dominion Laboratory and the Geological Survey, said the Minister. The Association would undoubtedly benefit from work done in the selection, analysis, and classification of New Zealand clay and ceramic resources, but would give closer' attention to the common problems of manufacturers of pottery and ceramics. with a view to supplying as much as possible of the Dominion’s requirements of those goods of good quality at a reasonable price. The Government, said Mr. Sullivan, was making a substantial financial contribution to the funds of the Association, equivalent to the amount contributed by the industry, although the Association (which will later become an independent incorporated body) qjas controlled by a committee of seven members, five of whom were appointed by the manufacturers and only two (with the Ministers’ approval) by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Thus it would be seen that the direction of work done by the Association was democratically in the hands of the industry concerned. The chairman of the Association was Mi’. Frank Taylor General, General Manager of New Zealand Insulators, Ltd., and the deputy chairman was Mr. W. A. Joiner. Assistant Director of the Dominion Laboratory, Wellington. Discussions with other industries were proceeding, said the Minister, and he hoped that it would not be long before other research Associations were formed to the benefit ol the industries concerned and of the New Zealand public. In a-statement accompanying Mi. Sullivan’s announcement, Mr. Taylor said that the pottery industry was whole-heartedly behind the newlyformed Association. . New Zealand was fortunate in having deposits ol a variety of clay, field spars, and flints, which if properly developed would enable us to manufacture with our own labour and materials a wide range of pottery articles, not only for our own requirements but also probably for export.