AIR TRANSPORT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23109, 8 February 1937, Page 10

AIR TRANSPORT

RAPID DEVELOPMENT

NOTABLE RECORD OF SAFETY POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT (Per United Press Association) NELSON, Feb. 6. The ceremony to mark the commencement of the construction of the new Nelson aerodrome this afternoon was very largely attended. The Minister of Public Works (Mr R. Semple) was the principal speaker.. Within two years Nelson will be provided with one of the finest aerodromes in the Dominion, adequate for all purposes, including overseas services. The work is being financed by the Public Works Department, which is supervising the construction of the airport. The Nelson Harbour Board, the airport authority, will take over the control of the ground when it is completed. Mr Semple said that air transport was developing more quickly than many realised. The Government was ready to profit by the experiences of other countries and would develop aviation in New Zealand to the full, including the use of radio and meteorology. Some £6,000,000 had been spent on aerodromes and aviation, and the figure this year was £340,000. Already New Zealand services had carried 25,000 passengers, 43 tons of mail, and 21 tons of freight without one single accident—a record for the world. The Government was assisting the Wellington City Council to make the Rongatai aerodrome as safe as possible, but an emergency ground would be necessary. This would be at Paraparaumu, and would be used when the other port was unworkable. The Government realised that the provision of many aerodromes would be a factor in making flying safe. Referring to defence, Mr Semple said that he was not a militarist or anything of that sort, but he had sense enough to see that they were living in a troubled world with certain nations governed by dictators. “ We shall never take war to others,” he added, “ but the fact is that war may come to us, and we shall be prepared to protect our country in the best way.” The only real way to protect this country was by an air force. The Government was busy obtaining reports on these lines. The countries of the world were being drawn closer together by means of this wonderful form of transport. In dealing with the construction of the aerodrome, Mr Semple stated that Messrs Gough, Gough and Hamer, of Christchurch, had secured the contract by open tender. Some had disagreed with his policy of using machines. He had been told that it was a bad thing for - the country, but would they dump the ocean liner and go back to the canoe? Would they dump the aeroplane and go back to the balloon? “ We are living in an inventive age, and these wonders are there for us to fit into our daily tasks,” he said. The use of modern machinery meant cutting down the cost four times over. Would he be justified in spending four times as much as was necessary by using wheelbarrows and a bit of tin on the end of a stick and not getting the job done in their lifetime? Further, he wanted money to be saved for use in other directions. They wanted to develop New Zealand as quickly as they could, and they must, therefore, transfer laborious toil to machinery and make machinery the servant and not the master.

Tributes were paid to the Minister and the Government for the exneditious manner in which the negotiations for the aerodrome were carried out.