North & South – June 2019

76 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

andwhenHolyoakearrivedatTiwaiPtto

openComalco’saluminiumsmelterin

1971,hewasjeeredbya thousandprotest-

ers.Undergrowingpressure,andwithan

electionthenextyear,Holyoakeindicated

raisingthelakewouldbepostponed.This

stilldidn’tdefusetheissueandit became

a flashpointatthe 1972 election.

Andbythisstage,it hadbecomeclear

it wasn’tjustLakeManapōurithatwas

atstake.Manapōuriisconnectedto

muchlargerLakeTeĀnau,NewZea-

land’ssecond-biggestlake,bya short

stretchoftheUpperWaiauRiver.The

MinistryofWorksenvisagedeffectively

turningthetwolakesintoonebyraising

themboth,creatinga massivewater

reservoirforthepowerstation.

Again,Markwascalledintosurvey

theareaandreportontheeffectofrais-

ingLakeTeĀnau.Hisconclusionswere

thesame:theengineerswereeffective-

ly“playinggod”andit wouldbedisas-

trousforvegetationaroundthelake,

whilealsoriskingfloodingthetown.

JohnMoorewasTeĀnau’sGP,a

suave27-year-oldwho’darrivedinthe

areain1968,knowinglittleofthe

brewingcontroversy.Butwhenhe

startedreadingwhatwasproposed,he

got angry, and helped form the Te Anau

PreservationCommittee.

Alotofthedebatewasesoteric,with

measurementsandcalculationsandun-

certainties,allofwhich,Mooresays,

“wasreallyhardtogetexcitedaboutfor

anyonewhodidn’thavetheirfeetinthe

water”.

Butaftersomeonesupposedlythreat-

enedtobombanycontrolstructures

aroundthelake,themediasuddenlyreal-

isedthiswasn’t“aleft-wing,liberal,anti-

development,slightlyabstractissue,buta

bunchoffairlypissed-offlocalswhose

personalliveswereaffecteddirectly”.

KenBradleywenttohighschoolatthe

villagebuilttohouseworkersonthe

powerstation,andsaystheprotestsof

theearly70swerethefirsttimehe’dever

heardthewords“conservation”or“eco-

logicalprotection”.ButBradley,who

laterspent 41 yearsworkinginFiordland

fortheDepartmentofConservationand

itspredecessors,saysheunderwenta

gradualenvironmentalawakening.“I

thinkeveryNewZealanderdid.Itwas

thewake-upcallforNewZealanders.

“Itwasa difficultone,becauseevery-

oneherebenefitedfromtheconstruc-

tion,buttherewasalwaysconcern

aboutraisingthelake,andthemajority

of people living here knew there was

theOtagoandSouthlandNationalParty
executivelabelledraisingManapōuri
“completelyindefensible”and“legal-
iseddesecrationofournationalherit-
age”.Indeed,it wasn’tpost-Woodstock
hippieswholedtheopposition– leg-
endarystudentprotesterTimShadbolt
workedonthehydroproject– butthe
likesofMcLeanandJones,whowere
naturallyconservative.
Acrossthecountry,peoplemarched
againstthegovernment’splan.“Inthe
nameofprogress,they’lldestroyevery
beautifulthingwe’vegot,”criedone
protester,distillinghowopponentsfelt.
Thatfeelinghardenedwhenit wasre -
vealedraisingthelake,withitsterri-
bleenvironmentaleffects,wouldonly
increasethepowerstation’soutputby
4.5%.Thenit wasuncoveredComalco
hadofferedsharestopoliticians,pub-
licservants,judgesandjournalistsin
a clumsyandmisguidedPRcampaign.
Eventually,thegovernmentordereda
commissionofinquiry.However,while
itsOctober 1970 reportacknowledged
raisingthelakecouldcauseseriousen-
vironmentaldamage,it saidthegovern-
ment’shandsweretiedbecauseit was
lockedintothedealwithComalco.
Public opposition didn’t stop, though,

Above:ThealuminiumsmelteratTiwaiPt,nearBluff,
whichtakesallthepowergenerated at Lake Manapōuri –
13% of the country’s electricity.

Above:KenBradleysaysthe

Manapōuricampaignwasawake-up

call for the whole country.

HOLYOAKE,WHOSEGOVERNMENTSEEMEDBEWITCHEDBYCOMALCO’SPROMISESAND
HADBECOMEDEVOTEESOFWHATWASDESCRIBEDASA “KILOWATTCULT”,COMMENTED
THAT“THEOPPOSITIONISNOTQUITESOFORMIDABLEASITHASSEEMEDATTIMES”.AS
WITH MUCH OF HIS JUDGMENT OVER THE ISSUE, HOLYOAKE WAS TERRIBLY WRONG.