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George Gair as a cabinet Minister was closely involved with the oil shocks and carless days which hit New Zealand in the 1970s. He reflects on what happened and takes a look at the future.
New Zealand, and the world, were hit by two major 'oil shocks' in the 1970s. The first, in 1974, and the second, in 1979.
When National was elected in 1975, I was first given Deputy Finance and Housing as my main portfolio responsibilities. There were problems between the Government and the oil industry in 1975-76.
Eric Holland, the National Minister taking over the energy-related responsibilities shed by Labour's Warren Freer, became sick. Prime Minister Muldoon switched my tasks in 1977 to take over the energy-related group. It was a bureaucratic nightmare which I tackled by merging about six different entities into a single ministry - Energy. We repaired our relationship with the oil industry and began working towards less reliance upon imported oil. That was in 1978.
Following the election late that year my ministerial responsibilities were switched from Energy to Health and Social Welfare, and my colleague Bill Birch followed me in Energy.
In 1979 New Zealand and the developed world was hit by what history describes as 'the second oil shock'. Each time these arose, New Zealand became acutely aware as to just how vulnerable we are to the availability of oil, its reliability and its price. In both transport and industry, it's a key ingredient. Our dependence upon agricultural and pastoral industries, and the ability to get their products to markets across the world, were the then over-riding feature of our export income - our economic life-line, as it were!
During World War Two New Zealanders knew about petrol rationing and accepted its inevitability as part of every citizen's war effort. I can recall in my late teens when the family lived for a year in Paekakariki, just north of Wellington. Our petrol ration for the family car (a 1937 Chev) was enough for one round trip to Wellington each month, and just enough left over to make a small contribution to the next month's trip! I travelled to University, a brother travelled to Wellington College, and my father to his headmaster's job in Brooklyn, all by suburban train.
When the second oil shock hit us in 1979 - a consequence of the Iranian revolution - the price of imported oil almost trebled. The Government sought to contain the problem with a programme of 'carless days', promotion of car-pooling, the introduction of the 80 km/h speed limit, and restricted hours of opening for service stations.
My recollection is that car owners were able to nominate which days of the week they would choose as their carless days - giving a user- choice as to which days were least critical from their car use point of view. And of course exceptions were needed in special circumstances - like the rural doctor making after-hour and emergency calls, etc.
It was a disruption to personal and family life which was certainly not welcomed, but it was suffered with a certain stoical acceptance that sheer necessity required it. We must remember, also, that it was a somewhat different society in the 1970s. The then older generation had all experienced the trials and tribulations of the war and immediate post-war years, when rationing and shortages were part of life. Most families had only one working parent, communities were smaller, and car pooling helped citizens and their neighbours through the problems car pooling naturally caused.
Carpooling is perhaps not as drastic as rationing, but it's painful nevertheless, and both bureaucratic and disruptive. It's not something, I sincerely hope, which would be entertained today. Our problem today is not driven so much by shortage of supply, but rather by the sharply rising cost of fuel, caused in quite significant measure by the slide in the value of the American dollar, and compounded for us by our dollar's slide against the US dollar.
Price, in other words, becomes its own natural 'rationing' scheme. And I know it hurts, every time you stop at the pump. And trying to find some glimmer of hope for better things through the grey clouds of today's petrol price problems, can we dare to see light at the end of the tunnel in the way the high prices are putting new life into the search for alternative fuels. And the light may prove the brighter, long-term, if the alternatives spare us some of the carbon emission problems which are part of the petrol package the past century has proved to be.
- HERALD ONLINE
