North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 73

Farmersrepresentative.

Buthisdaughter,JillGalt,sayshehad

norealideahowtheirManapōurigroup

wouldtakeoff.“Itwasanissuethat

cameupandheseemedtobetheman

onthespot.Itwasjustsomethinghe

couldn’thavenotdone,somethinghe

reallyneededtodo.”

Thepylonsandtransmissionlinesto

theTiwaiPtsmelterranbesidehis

farm,giantsstridingacrosstheflatlands

thatremindedhimofManapōuri’s

causeeverytimehesteppedoutside.

TheSaveManapouriCampaign

launcheda nationalpetitioninJanuary

1970 andwithintwomonthshadgained

morethana quarterofa millionsigna-

tures, about 10% of the country’s

meetingthatnightastheleaderofthe

groupthatbecametheSaveManapouri

Campaign.

McLeanhada holidayhomeatTe

Ānau,hadhuntedinFiordland’smoun-

tainsandboatedonitslakes.Butit was

hisdeepconcernwiththearroganceof

theprocesstoraisethelake,aswellas

hisdesiretoprotectthisenvironment,

thatledhimtospearheadpublicoppo-

sitiontoManapōuri’sraising.

Withclippedmoustache,scragglyside-

burnsanda passablecomb-over,McLean

hadalwaysbeeninvolvedincommunity

affairs.He’dbeenontherabbitboard,the

localhallcommittee,beeninvolvedwith

themeatandwoolboard,thenational

TB organisation, and been a Federated

electricityfor 99 years,includingraising
lakelevelstomaximisethis.WhenCo-
malcocriedpoor,thegovernmentsaid
itwouldbuildtheManapōuripower
station,thefirstofmanyexamples
whereComalcooutmanoeuvrednaive
politicians.
Environmentalgroupsopposedthe
projectbut,ashistorianAaronFoxsays,
“Goodlucktoanyonewhotookonthe
MinistryofWorksinthosedaysand
thatincredible,implacablebastard,
CharlesTurner.”
FoxsaysTurner’sinfluencewas
shownbyhisabilitytogetpoliticiansof
allhuestosupportthescheme,andhis
sympathiesweredemonstratedbythe
facthewenttoworkforComalcoafter
retiring.Growingpublicconcernabout
environmentaldamagesawtheoriginal
plantoraiseManapōuri’slevel26m,
reducedto8.4m.Butby1969,thefirst
electricityhadbeengeneratedfrom
Manapōuri’spowerstation,construc-
tionofthesmelteratBluffwaspro-
gressingrapidly,andtheplantoraise
thelakeby 1971 andobliterateitsgla-
cier-carvedbeautyseemedinevitable.
On 20 Octoberthatyear,pipe-smoking
amputeeandInvercargilldeputymayor
NormanJonesandhiswifeMarjory
openedtheirDomeSthousetofour
peoplewho,likethem,wereconcerned
aboutLakeManapōuri’simminentde-
struction.TherewasRonMcLean,who
farmedsheeponInvercargill’soutskirts;
McLean’sdentistBillBell;Invercargill
doctorBillReekie;andDiptonfarmer
AlisterMcDonald.
Theyknewtheyhadthemightofgov-
ernmentandthecorporateworld
againstthem,buttheyalsoknewhow
muchtheylovedtheareaandwhatwas
atstake.Whatoccurredthatnightin
Jones’loungelauncheda remarkable
campaign.Butthetruthis,itsparked
muchmorethanthat:changingtheway
weviewtheenvironment,andhelping
createtoday’sconservationmovement.

N

ormanJoneslaterbecamea
NationalMP,knownas“the
mouthfromtheSouth”forhis
outspokenviews.Butitwas
Ron McLean who emerged from the

DoubtfulSound,wherewaterfrom

Manapōuri’spowerstationisdis-

chargedaftertravelling10kmdown

tunnels through the mountains.