North & South – June 2019

74 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

OTAGO DAILY TIMES

Galtsays.“Whenweleftonthatfirst

trip,therewashaycut.Andit wasstill

onthegroundwhenwecamebacka

fortnightlater.”

Therewerefrequentmeetingsinthe

houseGaltstilllivesin,andconstant

phonecallstodentistBillBell,whowas

thegroup’ssecretary,hispatientsoften

leftwaitinginthechairwhilethepair

discussedstrategy.McLean’shealthbe-

gantofailduringthecampaignbuthe

didn’tpullback.

“Ittookitstoll,”saysGalt,“butthings

do,don’tthey,if they’reworthwhile?If

there’ssomethingthat’sworthstanding

upforandenoughpeoplewilldoit,you

justquietlypersist.Andthat’sreallywhat

hewasdoing.I thinkit raisedanaware-

nessandbroughtintoperspectivethings

thatpeoplemightnothavethought

aboutif therehadn’tbeena campaign–

and thank goodness there was one.”

population,atthattimethelargestpe-

titioneverpresentedtoParliament.To

promoteit,McLeanandGalt,whowas

stillatcollege,hittheroad,holding

publicmeetingsandestablishing 19

SaveManapouriCampaigncommittees

throughoutthecountry.SirEdHillary

joinedtheAucklandbranch,many

high-profileNewZealanderslobbied

thegovernmentinWellington,and

McLeanbecameTheDominion’s 1970

ManoftheYear.

“[Myfather]hada quietapproach,

andwasveryreasonedandlogical,”re-

membersGalt.“Hewasveryarticulate

andeloquent,butdefinitelynota lec-

ternbangerorwildhandgesticulator.

Andhewasn’taffiliatedtoanypolitical

party– I thinktheywouldhaveliked

himtohavebeen,buthewasa bitofa

maverick,I guess.”

The campaign took over their lives,

Above:RonMcLeanathisdaughter
Jill’s wedding, in 1973.

Above:FiveoftheoriginalGuardiansofLakesManapōuri,MonowaiandTeĀnau,appointedbyPrime
MinisterNormanKirkin1973,meetagainin 1994 (fromleft):WilsonCampbell,Professor(laterSir)
AlanMark,JohnMoore,JimMcFarlaneandLesHutchins. Ron McLean, who led the Save Manapouri
Campaign and was an original guardian, died in 1980.