AN INADEQUATE INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 196, 17 May 1944, Page 6

AN INADEQUATE INQUIRY

When the Minister of Works (Mr. Semple) admitted to the House of Representatives on March 29 that serious defects had been discovered some time previously in the Fordell and Turakina. tunnels of the Marton-Wanganui railway deviation, he concluded his statement with the words: “A full investigation is now being conducted.” More than six weeks have passed, and it now appears from another statement issued by Mr. Semple that the inquiry has yet to begin. “No time will be lost in conducting it,” the Minister added. This assurance is offered notwithstanding the fact that- already, for some unexplained reason, a great deal of time appears to have been lost. What is more, the inquiry as planned does not appear to meet the requirements of this deplorable case. It has been estimated that to remedy the defects in the tunnels will cost £150,000 of public money, additional to some £500,000 already spent —or yet to be spent—to complete a railway deviation of a little more than three miles. The factor of cost alone is sufficient to justify a demand not merely for an investigation conducted by the Public Service Commissioner, but a full public inquiry. But there are other important factors. In his statement to the House the Minister largely disclaimed responsibility for what had occurred. Though he has never hesitated to impress upon the public his capacity for, and. practice of, keeping a keen practical supervision over the activities of his department, Mr. Semple placed the blame for permitting muddle, neglect or deliberate jerry-building —whichever it lias been—on other shoulders. Indeed, he went as far as to say that the facts he had set before the House . . .

. . Provide irrefutable evidence of slummed (sic) workmanship, which is nothing short, of criminal on the part of certain of the workmen, it reveals, too, a shocking absence of supervision on the part of certain overseers on the job.”

On-top of this Mr. Semple declared that efforts were being made-to saddle him personally with the responsibility. Here, quite clearly, is a situation which should be examined in a most searching and impartial manner. A Public Service inquiry conducted behind closed doors is inadequate tor such a purpose. The whole tenor of the Minister’s latest statement would suggest that he has ordered the inquiry, decided upon the style of it. and even prescribed in general terms the order of reference. If this or anything like it is the case, then the proceeding is highly unfitting, if not improper. The inquiry should be’of an independent nature, instituted by the Government, and the Minister’s position in the whole sorry affair should be made one of the points of the inquiry. Only by this means can the public be assured that the tunnels scandal will be thoroughly probed and the responsibility for it—both direct and indirect and both positive and negative—be justly apportioned.