The State controls the generation of electricity. The Water Power Act of 1903 reserved to the Crown, with certain exceptions, the sole rights to generate electricity by water power. Delegation of these rights was later permitted and the law was finally consolidated in the Public Works Act of 1928. The State Supply of Electrical Energy Act was passed in 1917 “to regulate the generation, sale, and supply of electrical energy by the State and to provide for a system of accounts …”. This is the statutory machinery which the State Hydro-electric Department, established by the Electricity Act of 1945, took over from the Hydro-electric Branch of the Public Works Department. The Electricity Amendment Act of 1958 created a separate portfolio of electricity and the name of the Department was changed to New Zealand Electricity Department.

In 1953 the Geothermal Energy Act gave the Crown the sole right to tap and use geothermal energy and also provided for licences to be issued for the private and commercial use of geothermal steam.

The first gasworks were erected in 1862 at Auckland and, by 1869, there were works in Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, increasing to 56 in 1916 and, since then, declining to 29 in 1964. Nine are run by limited companies, 11 are combined with electricity supply (nine municipalities and two power boards), and 10 are run by municipalities and are not combined with electricity.

Electricity was first generally used for lighting, but from 1919 onwards it gradually competed more successfully with gas in heating and cooking. Electricity shortages during the Second World War halted the trend away from gas; the amount sold increased until 1948, then declined until 1955, remained steady for two years, and has since steadily improved. In 1956 the Government declared all but two gasworks were essential. In the four years ended December 1964 gas production increased 4·7 per cent to 5,872 million cu. ft. The importance of byproducts in gas manufacture must not be overlooked, particularly the 2·2 million gallons of tar and the 79,000 tons of coke a year. There were about 150,000 consumers in 1964.

The Gas Supply Act of 1908 and the Gas Industry Act of 1958 are the only two Acts which apply generally to the gas industry. The latter Act, to maintain and perhaps increase the gas industry, is administered by the New Zealand Electricity Department. A Gas Council was set up, its main work being to advise the Government on gas matters, and generally to assist and advise owners of gasworks. The Minister of Electricity is Chairman. Five members represent Government Departments; two, the Gas Association of New Zealand (Inc.); and one each, the Gas Institute of New Zealand (Inc.) and the Federation of Labour.

From 1943 to 1950 individual gasworks were subsidised. From 1951 a subsidy of 2s. per 1,000 cu. ft. of gas sold was paid until the setting up of the Gas Council. The subsidy paid by the Gas Council was reduced to 1s. 8d. per 1,000 cu. ft. in 1959 and is regarded as being paid to help to supply gas at a price reasonably comparable with electricity. The reduction provided funds for a coal freight equalisation subsidy to reduce freights to the average for each Island; this helps inland works with high rail costs. Prices for gas-making coal were stabilised until 31 March 1964 and again from 1 April 1964. To cushion the effect of this change, a coal price support subsidy was introduced diminishing by one-fifth each year. The Gas Council meets the payment of interest and repayment charges for specified periods on loans raised for approved new plant, where more efficient operation will result.

Natural gas from Kapuni in Taranaki could probably change the future for the gas industry in the North Island, and a decision about its use as a premium fuel is imminent (August 1965). If it proves practicable and the price is right, the problems faced by the industry where natural gas is available will no longer be ones of economic survival against domestic competition of electricity and of industrial and commercial competition with oil.

Coal production for many years was about 2¾ million tons; then in 1953 it dropped to 2½ million for three years before increasing to a record 3 million tons in 1960. The use of coal on the railways and for coastal shipping has been steadily declining and, latterly, coal has been losing ground to oil fuel in industry. This decline has been offset by the increase in the use of coal at Meremere for electricity generation. In 1962, nearly one-seventh of the coal used was for electricity generation, one-fifth was used by householders, one-tenth by gasworks, and one-eighth by dairy factories; the railways used only 7½ per cent. The demand for lump coal remains steady, but for slack coal it is lessening, so that slack-coal dumps are a feature in many districts. Coal production fell by 370,000 tons in 1962; the number of men employed, both in opencast and in underground mines, has therefore decreased. Any substantial fluctuation in the use of coal at Meremere now has a marked effect on the industry. The changing pattern of coal usage, the probable use of natural gas, and the effects of the new oil refinery at Whangarei give the coal industry an uncertain economic future. But it must be remembered that coal at present provides one-third of New Zealand's effective energy needs, with hydro and geothermal electricity and imported oil each providing a third. The importance of coal must not therefore be underrated.

For its area New Zealand is well endowed with water for hydro-electric generation, the full economic development of which should take place within the next 15 or so years. The major alternative source of energy is coal but, in relation to the scale of development, New Zealand's coal resources are limited or very costly to extract. It is therefore likely that, within a period of 15 years, the increasing demand for energy will call for the use of imported fuels unless new sources are found.

The cost of power from a nuclear power station would, for at least 10 years, be higher than that of a coal-fired steam station, and New Zealand would have to depend on other countries for fuel for such stations. Atomic-power stations are unnecessary while other resources can be developed more economically. These facts have governed development of resources and will determine plans for further development.

The poultry industry administration is in the hands of the New Zealand Poultry Board and the New Zealand Egg Marketing Authority, the latter being the statutory body in control of the marketing of eggs.

by Frederick Christopher Bobby, N.D.A., N.D.P. (1898–1962), late Chief Advisory Officer (Poultry), Department of Agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture has field officers (poultry instructors) stationed in both islands at centres of heaviest poultry production, and advice is available to commercial poultry producers on all aspects of poultry husbandry and disease control. In addition, the Department has a poultry unit at which practical problems of poultry farming such as feeding, management, and breeding, are studied. The information obtained is made available to the poultry industry.

Most poultry diseases commonly found in other poultry-producing countries have been recorded in New Zealand. The important exceptions, however, are fowl pest (Newcastle disease), and infectious bronchitis, which so far have not been diagnosed. A strict embargo on the importation of hatching eggs and live or dead poultry from countries other than Australia has been enforced since 1953 as a protection against the possible introduction of these diseases. Post mortem and field advisory services are given by the Department of Agriculture.

Wheat, wheat offals, barley, and maize are the main feeds used for poultry mashes and grain mixtures, while meatmeal and meat and bone meal (ranging from 45–60 per cent protein) are the sources of animal protein used. Vegetable protein concentrates are not usually included in poultry mashes. All poultry feeds used are produced in New Zealand except for a proportion of the wheat which is imported from Australia. The systems of feeding employed are dry mash and grain, all-mash, and pellet feeding, the majority of poultry producers purchasing ready-mixed mashes, which are readily available.

Until about 1959 scant attention had been paid to table poultry production as a specialised aspect of poultry husbandry. In the past, table poultry offered to the public has been almost entirely of culled birds from commercial egg flocks and surplus male birds. Attention is now being given to the production of “broilers”, based on modern housing and management. These birds reach a 3–3½ lb weight at 10–12 weeks, and are being produced from stock specially bred for quick growth as well as from crossbred cockerels of laying strains. Broilers are becoming popular with the public and the demand for continuous supplies is increasing. Marked progress in the killing, processing, and marketing of table birds has been made since the Second World War.

A large proportion of laying flocks is maintained on the intensive system, being housed throughout the year in open-fronted lean-to type of laying sheds. In recent years different types of poultry housing have been introduced, including double-decker houses, full-span gable houses, and sawtooth houses. These are now being used for the larger units of laying stock of up to 1,000 layers in one pen. The practice of housing birds in laying-cage units has gained in popularity, particularly in the Canterbury Province. In the main the birds are housed in the Californian type of laying-cage unit, but some threetier, automatically operated, laying batteries from the United Kingdom have been established in the South Island.

An egg-production survey by the Department of Agriculture, which covered over 12 months in 1960–61, dealt with 120 commercial flocks totalling approximately 220,000 birds. The results gave an average of 194 eggs per bird, calculated on a hen-day basis. Flocks varying in size were chosen from the more important poultry production areas in both islands. No later egg-production survey has been made (1965).