1998: Bill Maher Hall

October 14, 2024

By AHNZ

Visitors to the West Coast passing down State Highway 6 a little south of Greymouth might rightly wonder why there is a Bill Maher Hall here. Of course you would resist the thought of it being named for the famous American commentator-commentator named Bill Maher. Except…there’s a huge cartoon on the building facing the road that really looks like Bill Maher. What’s going on here?

The name of the locality is Camerons of which there isn’t much left now from the time it was a township. Once it had its own school, post office, train station. It was developed by flax, forestry, farming, and of course the gold rushes. New River to the north and the Taramakau River to the south were once major barriers that led to the definition of the place which was named after Dan Cameron an early gold prospector.

Camerons was the gateway to the south and once commanded the Taramakau Cableway which was the only safe way to cross the Taramakau River for some 17 years. It was part of a network of tramways going all the way to the Kumara diggings and powered by steam. Not until 1893 was a road/rail bridge built to replace it and this remained the arrangement until 2018 when a dedicated road bridge finally opened. Ref. 1877: The Greymouth and Kumara Tramway, AHNZ

The old tram junction on the river must have been in a very politically powerful ‘castle’ in its day. For years after it was a tavern and now it’s an Air B&B. Ref. Riverstone House, Airbnb

Bill Maher, the American, of course, has nothing to do with Camerons or New Zealand and has probably never been anywhere near here. He’s a Lefty Boomer intellectual wit who has been in the game so long he now has more views in common with the new Right than the new Left. He has a Hollywood ‘walk of fame’ star named after him but no community halls.

Bill Maher, the New Zealander, was so important to his community that it re-named Camerons Hall after him (26 April, 1998.) Ref. p103 Wright (2006)

Maher had been school headmaster of the isolated mining town of Waiuta until that place came to a premature stop. A change of government and a refusal of permission to recover from a cave-in shut the mine there and put an end to the community. Bill’s school was closed. Only in the 2020s has this mine been opened back up again. Ref. 1951: Cave In at Waiuta, AHNZ

Maher and his wife served their new territory for at least 4 decades and were evidently crucial to the new hall which opened 18 August, 1964. This, despite retirement at the end of 1967. It was 20 years after that, in 1998, that the hall was re-named for Bill and he was still alive to see it.

“Hours & hours just playing in the bush; whitebaiting with Mum and the locals on the New River; swimming in the river, birching, Camerons School & our wonderful teacher, Bill Maher (how lucky we were to have him). table tennis, the village and it’s people and the gossip & stories. An idyllic life.” – Susan Barlow, West Coast Recollect, Facebook (2020)

“Mr Maher came to Camerons School after he left Waiuta. Waiuta’s loss was very definitely our gain as I am sure that few places in NZ could boast a finer teacher. I will always be eternally grateful for the education I received at the hands of this man. If you travel through the small village of Camerons, take note of the village hall …. it now bears his name.” – Susan Barlow, West Coast Recollect, Facebook (2024)

“Bill was a gentleman. A lovely family.” – Geoffrey Bell, ibid

“W P (Bill) Maher born Denniston 1912…Granity School, before going to Christchurch Training College…Nelson Central…Inspectors and warning by bush telegraph..” – Interview with Bill Maher, Neville Lambert Memorial oral archive (1997)

Maher (1912-?) was evidently a respected and valued man. In keeping with the times, calling the hall “Bill Maher” indicates the memorialising of both Mr and Mrs Bill Maher. As the memory fades future generations will wonder who the man was. Eventually something will happen to the hall. Old age. Fire. Truck hits it. Tornado? It will probably lose the name not as an act of wiping it out so much as the opportunity will come up to renew it and nobody will be able to think of a reason to do so. Nobody will object when it simply isn’t kept up with.

The cartoon man who looks like American Bill Maher has survived for over 20 years already. It seems to be a relic of when kids collected aluminium cans for cash; Hasn’t been worth anyone’s time for some years. It looks like you can donate cans through cartoon Bill’s gaping gob.

The hall appears to be very well appreciated and in good shape. I’ve seen it lit up at night too.

What would be really great and amusing is if the American comedian actually would stop by and do a bit of stand-up comedy in this hall! Conan O’Brien stopped by Hokitika last week so it’s not entirely out of the question one day. Ref. Watch: Conan O’Brien sings Led Zeppelin at Hokitika pub, Stuff (2024)

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Ref. Between Two Rivers, Les Wright (2006)

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