SKY TOWER TOPPING-OFF

AUCKLAND

MC John Hart, Hugh Fletcher, Paul Collins, distinguished guests, contractors, workers, ladies and gentlemen.

This is quite a moment. An event of this size doesn't come along all that often.

In fact it is reasonable to suggest that another Sky Tower will never be built in New Zealand.

So this is it - warts and all - critics and all.

In construction terms it's a great achievement and a great credit to New Zealand's construction industry, and in particular a credit to those who actually built it.

Your business is getting more sophisticated all the time.

And this Tower proves that.

The materials get better, the equipment gets better, and everything gets more high-powered and more automated.

But there's one thing that'll never change.

And that's the old rule that the equipment is only ever as good as the person who's using it.

In the end, the building you get depends on the ability of the people who design and build it.

So at this stage I want to again acknowledge the remarkable work done by the engineers Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner, and the Architects Craig, Craig and Moller.

When I look at this huge construction I wonder why Richard Prebble is creating so much fuss over, by comparison, a very modest building in Wellington.

From the foundations to the Tower this project has set new standards for construction work in this country.

I have been following progress from the very early days.

In fact on my first visit I made some inquiries about the size of the hole that had to be dug as foundations for the whole complex.

I am told that the site area is 1.2 hectares (over three acres in my units) and the hole was 25 metres deep.

Well, that is more than big enough to put the entire Beehive building in.

Some of the less charitable amongst you might suggest that is what we should have used it for.

I'm told too the Tower has been designed for a wind speed of 200 kilometres per hour - we get that in Wellington, but I'm pleased to know that Auckland can also suffer from too much wind - and at that speed the top of the Tower moves up to one metre.

I understand that the Tower itself was designed in Wellington.

I guess there's a message there somewhere.

So you have a lot to be proud of.

Today, I also want to congratulate the construction industry and its workers for making it through the tough times that followed the boom years of the 80s.

I know that there was a time, just a few years ago, when quite a number of New Zealand construction workers had to head off overseas to find work.

And that certainly wasn't the first time in your industry that boom was followed by bust.

But times are changing. We have moved beyond that old boom and bust syndrome.

We now plan for strong, steady growth, year-in, year-out because we know that's better for everyone.

It's all part of our approach to steadily add new jobs to the workforce each year, and that's exactly what's been happening in the last five years of sustained strong economic growth.

That's one of the reasons you're seeing a more stable building industry today, and that's the way we want it to continue.

There has been concern at the Reserve Bank that too much house building in Auckland was putting pressure on inflation.

The last quarterly CPI figure which showed a decline in inflation in the March quarter was certainly good news.

That containment of costs happened alongside strong growth in the building sector with the total value of all building consents up by almost 13 per cent for the year ended January '97.

Non-residential consents rose by almost 16 per cent.

And the cement business also reflects this trend.

Usage for the March '97 year is up three per cent on the previous 12 months, which was up seven per cent on the '95 figure.

Here in Auckland, the growth is so strong, you are seeing the equivalent of a new Hamilton being built here every five years.

That's a lot of houses, it's a lot of offices, a lot of factories, and a lot more construction work.

In other words, a lot of work for the construction industry.

There are still plenty of cranes on the skyline, even if there won't be one as high as the one that was here at the Sky Tower.

I know having been part of the team that built the Sky Tower will be an ongoing source of pride for you all.

I say that knowing it has many critics and they, like the Tower, won't go away.

So, well done, and good luck. This Tower is a credit to you.

Thank you.

Ends