Lines Accused Of Blackmail

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 9

Lines Accused Of Blackmail

f.V.Z. Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, November 17. The watersiders’ national president, Mr E. Isbey, today accused overseas shipping companies of indulging in “arrant blackmail” by threatening to increase freight rates if they were compelled to pay tax on their New Zealand earnings. He said it was the bounden iuty of the Government not ,o vacillate before “this out-

rageous demand.” “The competitive trading position of New Zealand producers has, in recent months alone, been severely staggered by heavy freight increases,” said Mr Isbey. “These were negotiated under an arrangement that is most unfair to the New Zealand producer and the economy of this country.

“These increases were arrived at for the United Kingdom and European trade only, without even the semblance of any kind of discussion with the people who have to foot the bill—the producers and public of New Zealand.

“Similar, and in most cases higher, freight rate increases were arbitrarily decided by the shipowners for all their ring-trading routes to America, all Pacific areas and the Eastern trades.

“A most alarming aspect of this situation is that smaller shipping lines, offshoots of the Conference, and some reputed opposition lines have all imposed the increases.

Mr Isbey said that for the shipping companies to threaten further increases in

order to avoid taxation, when this was something that business concerns, producers, farmers and all sections of the New Zealand public had to pay, was “arrant blackmail.”

“The increased effort to improve production and the dispatch of goods will be completely worthless if the end result to this country is visible only in increased profits to shipping companies,

whose published balancesheets at present indicate net profits running into millions of pounds.”