‘Fees Diverted Permanently’

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31462, 31 August 1967, Page 1

‘Fees Diverted Permanently’

(N.Z. Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 30.

Registration and licence fees, which in 1966-67 provided $3,679,091 to the National Roads Board, had been permanently diverted from the National Roads Fund, the president of the Automobile Association (Mr H. W. Dowling) said in Napier tonight.

Mr Dowling said this was made clear in a letter from

the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) to the president of the Counties Association (Mr W. Baird) in reply to representations on finance for the board.

He said Mr Holyoake’s letter also made clear that: The Consolidated Revenue Account would make a special contribution of $3 million to the National Roads Fund this year, but there were no assurances for the future;

The cost of policing heavy traffic offences ($400,000) would now be met from the Consolidated Fund.

“All this means that the board will have nearly $4 million less available to spend in 1967-68. After that it

could be $7 million,” said Mr Dowling. “This has confirmed statements made recently by the Minister of Works (Mr Allen) and the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon). “The fact remains, however, that the National Roads Fund has been broken down to such an extent that its sources of revenue from user taxes are unrecognisable,” said Mr Dowling. “Furthermore, the action now taken by the Government is quite contrary to the views since re-expressed by the architect of the National Roads Act, Sir Stanley Goosman.

“The association is in a position to quote definite assurances regarding the preservation of the fund and these are well known to the Government. “The council of the New Zealand Automobile Association firmly believes there has been a complete departure from the principles of the arrangement at the time the National Roads Act was introduced and we shall continue to seek reinstatement of the board's revenue as soon as the present economic difficulties are overcome,” said Mr Dowling. “We consider it inequitable to expect road-users and the National Roads Board to contribute an additional $2B million of an extra $36 million to be raised in indirect taxation during the year ended March, 1968. “It has been stated that the parties represented on the board could not possibly have been consulted. The mere formal advice of a Government proposal is courteous and often helpful, I know, but from a proper consultation I believe another way of reducing the boards expenditure could have been found and the principles of the act preserved,” said Mr Dowling. Mr Holyoake said in his letter that he believed he bad made it clear to the deputation that in the Government’s view the question of fund diversion involved issues of policy, and no assurance could be given that the present measures were only temporary. “It is inconceivable that, in times of stringency, an important segment of national

expenditure should be exempted from the restraint imposed on the rest of the economy.

“In other words, the expenditure on roading, which has been growing substantially, cannot be divorced from over-all economic considerations,” he said.

Next season’s export prices, particularly for wool, would determine whether the Government could relax its economic measures. “The Government has reached the conclusion that it is still too early to make a forecast of economic conditions that is sufficiently firm to justify the relaxation of the measures we have introduced,” he said.