Mr. Coates Has Lot to Say on Railways

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 707, 5 July 1929, Page 11

Mr. Coates Has Lot to Say on Railways

REVERSAL OF POLICY GOVERNMENT'S MOTIVES (THE SUX’S Parliamentary Reporter) I PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Thurs. The reversal. by the United Government, of Reform's policy in egard to railway construction came in for some sharp criticism by the Rt. Hen. J. G. Coates, Leader of the Opposition, in his speech on the Address-in - Reply. The Palmerston North railway devia- 1 tion had been stopped and the same with the Taupo line. Was it right? he asked. It was true, he continued, that there was a political aspect to the matter, but the Palmerston North deviation had been carefully investigated, and had been urged as necessary by the Fay-Raven report, an'd by the reports of various engineers. Indeed, the work should have been started before it was. Although the deviation had been stopped, there were still 14 levelcrossings through the town of Palmerston North, and still delays of half an hour for every train. Both the speed of the trains and' 1 the economic aspect ' and the safety of the travelling public had to be taken into account with the deviation. The abandonment of the work needed an explanation. MORNINGSIDE TUNNEL

Then it had been rumoured that the Government contemplated stopping the Morningside (Auckland) tunnel deviation, which would improve tlie northern terminal facilities in Auckland and help to do away with delays in Auckland at both ends.

The abandonment of this project would need more explanation than the Palmerston North deviation. The Minister of Railways, the . Hon. W. B. Taverner, would have to explain the delays in the trains at Auckland and. if the tunnel were not built there would be losses in traffic and in trade. The Taupo railway was a very important line which had been abandoned. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, had said that by abandoning the railways he was saving the country £850.000 The Prime Minister: I did not say that. I said £1,200,000. Mr. Coates: I’m glad of that. He went on to discuss the Taupo line, when Mr. Fletcher interjected, “What about Kirikopuni?” Mr. Coates: Does the hon. gentleman know anything about that railway? Mr. Fletcher; It cost £BO,OOO a mile. Mr. Coates: Has the hon. gentleman been there? Mr. Fletcher did not answer and Mr. Coates invited him to spend a week with him exploring the line and the country through which it had to pass. TAUPO LAND The Leader of the Opposition was getting nicely under way again with a statement that the Taupo line had in the first place been a purely developmental line, when Mr. Broadfoot interrupted, the speaker replying that the hon. gentleman was talkative, but that no one took him seriously. Mr. Coates said that people objected to the Taupo line because it was said that half a million acres were owned by big newspaper trusts. The lands were capable of development and justified the existence of a railway on that score. Mr. F. Langstone (Waimarino): They wouldn’t feed a sparroAV. The Minister of Lands, the Hon. G. W. Forbes: Who said we don’t like the Taupo lands? Mr. Coates: The hon. gentleman’s Government apparently doesn’t. Mr. Forbes (with a broad smile): You’re only guessing. A Member: You forget there are such things as roads. There was some heckling of the speaker at this stage, but Mr. Coates emerged to claim that the Taupo line Avas developmental in every sense of the word. The difference between rail carriage and road carriage on a basis of three CAvt. of manure an acre was os 9d, the railway having the advantage. Mr. W. J. Poison (Stratford): It would take 300 tons an acre of manure. I knoAV the country. I’A r e Avalked over the railAvay route.

Mr. Coates doubted the statement, saying that he himself had not been over the route, and lie did not think any member of the House had. He kept on a vigorous defence of the line, being interrupted by Messrs. Langstone and Poison at intervals. He said that with afforestation, after 1932, 30,000,000 feet of timber could be taken out of the area, according to estimates. He himself estimated the date as 1935. Mr. Poison: The trees have never been thinned. A Member: Clothes props! Mr. Coates continued that the timber was not to be used for milling, but for Avood-pulp purposes. That Avas the. Reform Party’s idea. Wood pulp Avas the coming thing, and already inquiries Avere being made for timber in both the Taupo and the Urawera country. The timber hauled out from the country Avould pay for the construction of the line. That A\ r as the case for the line, and one Avhich had to be answered in detail. TIME FOR INQUIRY Discussing railways as a Avhole, he .said that for one thing the Midland line should stop right away, so that inquiry could be made into earth movements. He AA r anted an explanation as to the completion of the South Island Main Trunk. The economic return from such an expenditure was required. Was the money from the lines that had been stopped going into the South Island scheme? Had not the time arrived for all railway questions to be inquired into? (Hear, hear.) Here the Speaker’s bell rang, and Mr. Bodkin moved for an extension of time. This Avas granted, and Mr. Coates went on to traverse the history of the reports on the completion of the line

Replying to Sir Joseph Ward, aylio asked why he had promised to complete the line, Mr. Coates said that all Governments had promised to com- j plete it —Governments before his. Mr. T. W. McDonald (Wairarapa): : Why did you abandon it? Air. Coates continued that he wanted an investigation made of all lines. On the South Trunk it was estimated that there Avould be a loss of £180.537 a year. Mr. G. C. Munns (Roskill): You knew all this ay hen you sent the telegram? Mr. Coates did not answer. Later he said that the question iff three or four new lines in New Zealand had to be faced, so he made a plea for all lines to be carefully inA r estigated. The Hon. W. A. Yeitcli: What about the Paeroa-Pokeno line. Do you agree with that, sir? Mr. A. M. Samuel (Thames), A\*ith j a grin: I do. Hr. Coates wont on to refer to the j proposed alteration in the automatic Public Works allocations, which he viewed Avitli alarm. The lion. W. A. Veitc.h, Minister of Labour, said the Leader of the Opposition Avas strong in his advocacy of the construction of the Rotorua-Taupo railAvay, but did Air. Coates thoroughly in\*estigate the position before deciding that that Avork should be gone on with? So far as the Palmerston North deviation was concerned, it had to be remembered that when the late Government A\*as ad\ised to proceed with the work it aa* as anticipated that | the revenue AA-ould increase. Unfor- ] tunately it had not increased. It \ A\*as an unpleasant task to stop the

work, but the Government had its duty to • perform. RETIRED SERVANT’S CRITICISM The spectacle of a retired civil servant writing to the Press on railway matters had presented itself recently, continued Mr. Veitch. He referred to the late chairman o* the Railway Board. Air. F. J. Jones, who retired on a pension of over £1,090 a year, some months before his time was up. “He came into the political light to support the Leader of the Opposition, who awarded him his pension,” said Mr. Veitch. “Do you suggest that seriously?” asked Air. Coates. Mr. Veitch: The facts speak for themselves. There is no suggestion— I am simply stating the facts of the case and the facts are perfectly clear. I understand that Mr. Jones was retired on the ground of ill-health before his time was up. Mr. Veitch said it was quite obvious to anybody acquainted with the matter that the late chairman of the Railway Board had no scientific knowledge of railway questions. Referring to the South Island Alain Trunk railway, Mr. Veitch said the decision of the Government to complete the work had been made on economic and not political grounds.