---
aliases:
- The Press (Christchurch)
- Christchurch Press
category: Private Organization
created: 2026-09-23
location: Christchurch, New Zealand
relations:
- fn: 1
  reverse: true
  type: owned
  with: '[[Christchurch Press Company]]'
summary: Christchurch daily newspaper published by the Christchurch Press Company
  from Cathedral Square, whose 1981 to 1986 reporting is the principal record of the
  Stokowski affair.
tags:
- Organization
- Newspaper
- NewZealand
- Christchurch
- RCHorsch
updated: 2026-09-23
---

*The Press* is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, [New Zealand](/places/new-zealand/). In the 1970s and 1980s it was published by the Christchurch Press Company Ltd, whose registered office was "The Christchurch Press Company's building in Cathedral Square"; in December 1984 the Commerce Commission cleared the company to acquire shares in another business.[^1]

### The Stokowski Affair

Between 1981 and 1986 the paper reported the progress and collapse of [Chemical Technology Limited](/organizations/chemical-technology-limited/), the whey-to-ethanol company at Clandeboye near [Temuka](/places/temuka/) whose American director, Dr Stanley Stokowski, was the fugitive [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/). Its reports included the 1981 licensing of the distillery, the opening of the plant by [Ian Shearer](/people/ian-shearer/) in 1982, the police search after Stokowski fled in March 1984, and the feature "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?" of June 9, 1984, for which its [San Francisco](/places/san-francisco/) correspondent, John Hutchison, reached the real Dr Stanley Edward Stokowski, then working at the [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory](/organizations/lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory/).[^2][^3][^4][^5] In October 1984 it reported the statement of the Minister of Immigration, [Kerry Burke](/people/kerry-burke/), identifying the impostor as Raymond Charles Hoersch.[^6]

The paper was also the first to report, on December 10, 1981, the contents of a briefcase mislaid by an officer of the [New Zealand Security Intelligence Service](/organizations/new-zealand-security-intelligence-service/).[^7]

[^1]: NZ Gazette full-text index, "Christchurch Press Company," 1880-2017 (winding-up notices of 1978 and 1980 giving service at "its registered office at The Christchurch Press Company's building in Cathedral Square"; Commerce Commission notice of January 17, 1985), accessed September 23, 2026. https://gazette.howison.co.nz/search-full-text?query=%22Christchurch+Press+Company%22&start_year=1880&end_year=2017
[^2]: "Ethanol plant at Temuka," *The Press* (Christchurch), July 15, 1981. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19810715.2.31
[^3]: "Dr Shearer wants extra effort in biotechnology," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 23, 1982. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820423.2.96.9
[^4]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
[^5]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
[^6]: "Impostor: immigration cleared of blame," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 3, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841003.2.23
[^7]: Clayworth, Peter. "Intelligence services: The Cold War, 1945 to 1984," *Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand,* May 29, 2012. http://web.archive.org/web/20250919013618/https://teara.govt.nz/en/intelligence-services/page-2