NEW INDUSTRIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4833, 14 April 1936, Page 5

NEW INDUSTRIES.

GOVERNMENT AID PLANNED. IRON AND STEEL WORKS. The activities of the Government in aiding industry, as outlined by the Prime Minister, Hon. M. J. Savage, in an interview published on Saturday, are already under way. They are expected to be developed materially by the complete the proposed Bureau of Industry,; under the guidance of the Minister-, of Industries and Commerce,, Hon D. G. Sullivan, but inter-departmental investigations have been proceeding for some time into the prospects for new industries which it' is hoped to establish in the Dominion. .

The Government has already discussed the possibilities of developing the Onekaka iron deposits, a question which was also receiving the attention of the last Government before its removal from office. When an option on the Onekaka Company's rights and .resources was obtained in 1934 by Iron and Steel Development (New Zealand), Limited, it was stated that the concessions and assets were valued at £1,132,000. The estimate of iron ore in the Onekaka deposits was 60,000,000 tons, and in addition there was said to be 15,000,000 tons of limestone and 3,000,000 tons of coal.

The new company obtained an independent report from Professor A. H. Tocker, of Canterbury College, who showed that the value of the proposed industry to the company could be approximately £750,000 a year. It was suggested at the time that a capital of £2,000,000 would be required to develop the industry. The Government is known to be taking a very definite interest in the scheme, but so far no announcement has been made regarding" any possible avenues of State assistance, either by direct subsidy or protective tariffs. Another new industry the prospects of which have been mentioned is the manufacture of rubber tyres. Actually New Zealand is the only country using motors cars to a large extent which has not its own tyre factories, and representatives of a large overseas manufacturing firm made investigations into the question some time ago. From a remark made by the Minister of Labour, Hon. H. T. Armstrong, on Saturday, it is gathered that negotiations which were proceeding with the last Government at one time are now being continued. It is understood that other proposals which are receiving consideration include the development in New Zealand of the wood-pulp industry and sugar-beet growing, while attention is also being paid to reef mining, tobacco growing and the increased use of New Zealand flax.