TENANCY BILL’S AIM IS FAIR DEAL, SAYS MR SULLIVAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 84, 18 August 1950, Page 5

TENANCY BILL’S AIM IS FAIR DEAL, SAYS MR SULLIVAN

(Special to the Beacon) “Without question, this bill aims at fair dealing between landlord and tenant a t every step. The good tenant has nothing watever to fear from any one, and there is no threat anywhere of eviction or hardship to any occupant of premises,” said the Hon. W. Sullivan, Minister of Labour, replying to the second reading debate on the • Tenancy Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives. “It is the wish of the Government

that this legislation shall take care of the interests of both tenants and landlords at all times. That is the intention of the legislation, and there will be no deviation from it. We ought to remember that in this country there are hundreds of working people who are landlords.” Most of the Opposition speakers had emphasised that, the remedy was the building of more shop premises, the building of more homes. “I say that everything that this Government can do to achieve that object will be done,” said Mr Sullivan. “The only real difference between the Government and the Opposition on this Bill is that the

Government wants to ease controls and get rid of them as soon as it is practicable, whereas the Opposition wants to continue controls, to keep imposing controls upon the people, in keeping with the fundamental policy of a Socialist party.”

COMPLAINT ANSWERED Dealing with an Opposition complaint that goodwill would be destroyed, Mr Sullivan said clause 7 took goodwill outside of the Land Valuation Court Act completely. It would allow the buyer and seller to

negotiate the value of the goodwill in the business being purchased, and that was right and proper. It was nonsense to say that the clause destroyed goodwill in a business. The value of goodwill would be determined on the market, and surely there was no fairer way. It must be a matter for free negotiation between the owner and the tenant as to what the goodwill should be. The position previously was that the Government clamped down on the goodwill of many of the business people. “The Government has decided to make substantial relaxation of controls as far as is possible and reasonable at the present time. That is as far as we are going, but as conditions become better and easier we shall review the present legislation. I am sure, too, that homes in the future will be better provided than they have been in the past. We shall encourage people to do that. There will be more accommodation everywhere, and tenants will then get better accommodation and further relief can be given.”