FANTASTIC CLAIMS FOR COAL DEPOSITS ON PRIVATE LAND

Grey River Argus, 12 October 1949, Page 4

FANTASTIC CLAIMS FOR COAL DEPOSITS ON PRIVATE LAND

P.A. WELLINGTON. October 11. In the House of Representatives tonight, the vote on the estimates for the Mines Department was under consideration. Mr C. M. Bowden (Nat., Karori) said that since the inception of the scheme for the valuation of privately owned coal measures, the Minister had shown no sympathy for justifiable claims of those coal owners. He had reason to think that the global sum for compensation might not amount to more than half a million pounds. He said it was known that there would be claims amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds. The Minister had said no regard would be shown for potential value of coal. There was not a chance of an owner getting more than a fraction of the value of his coal measures. It was callous and barefaced expropriation of private rights. Hon. A. McLagan said that there was nothing at all on which the Member for Karori could base his fantastic assertions. The Coal Valuation Commission, which was one thousand times better informed than the Hon. Member, was not in a position to say what the global sum would be. It was nonsense to say that the owners were not getting a fair deal from the Government, which was being more generous than the National Government was in the United Kingdom when it nationalised the coal measures there during the war. Mr McLagan described some of the claims as “fantastic”. He mentioned one of fifteen hundred million pounds, and others amounting to hundreds of millions.