Kōrero: Coal and coal mining

This cartoon by Nevile Lodge was published in 1973, when the first of the two oil shocks in that decade dramatically increased the price of oil and encouraged planners to reconsider the use of New Zealand’s substantial coal reserves. It shows a miner (‘N.Z. coal industry’) as Cinderella, and Fraser Colman, the minister of energy, as the fairy godmother. A Middle Eastern oil sheik and a ‘nuclear’ woman watch apprehensively, while outside, the palace labelled ‘energy supply’ is lit up.