The power game : the development of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial complex, 1904-1969

Abstract

This thesis examines the integrated electro-industrial development which consists of the Manapouri-Te Anau hydro-electric power station and the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. The topic commences in 1904, with the first consideration of the hydro-electric potential of Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau, and concludes in 1969 with the signing of the industry agreement which confirmed the construction of an aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point, Bluff. Central to the thesis is the examination of the various influences of politicians, government officials, industrialists and entrepreneurs in the establishment of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial complex. As New Zealand's first significant attempt to establish a fully-integrated electro-metallurgical industry, the Manapouri Power Project epitomises the dilemma which has faced successive administrations: how to develop the nation's industrial capacity and yet conserve the nation's natural resources? The history of the Manapouri project also reflects the globalisation of the technologies and operations of multi-national electro-industrial enterprises in the twentieth century, for the huge hydro-electrical potential of the scheme made it ideally suited to the emerging world aluminium industry. By actively marketing Manapouri's hydro-electrical potential, entrepreneurs in the 1920s and 1930s, and government officials in the 1950s and 1960s, first interested and then involved Australian, British, American and Japanese members of the international aluminium cartel in the establishment of a New Zealand aluminium industry. The final design, construction and operation of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial complex, coming as it did at the end of some 65 years of government policy formulation, should have been a significant first step away from New Zealand's economic dependence upon the export of primary produce to the United Kingdom. Instead, the government can be observed hastily and ill-advisedly involving the country in a new form of multi-national dependence within the developing global economy. That the national economic benefits and desirability of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial development remain in doubt makes this topic both a crucial case study and a caution for those considering New Zealand's economic future.