Alliance To Seek National Trust

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31677, 13 May 1968, Page 1

Alliance To Seek National Trust

(N.Z. Press Association) . WELLINGTON, May 12. The New Zealand Alliance has dropped in the meantime its aim for liquor prohibition. Instead, it will campaign for all liquor retailing, brewing, distilling, and Importing to be taken over by a Governmentappointed national liquor trust board working with district liquor trusts. The change in policy was announced yesterday in a statement by the executive of the Alliance. “For many years the Alli-

ance has promoted temperance education and has actively campaigned for the abolition of the liquor traffic by the direct vote of the people. It has become clear that, both through the votesplitting effect of a three-issue ballot paper and the present mood of New Zealanders, such abolition is impracticable for some time to come," said the statement The Alliance had in recent years pressed the Government to conduct a referendum on nation-wide trust control, but without success. Full Weight “Without abandoning abolition as an ultimate goal, we have resolved to put the whole weight of our organise-

tion behind campaigning for trust control as an immediate objective. “We regard this as thoroughly consistent with oUr original constitution, which states the subsidiary aim of seeking to secure for the people through legislation, effective control of the liquor trade. We are confident that a transition to trust control can be accomplished without undue strain on the country’s economy,” said the statement Ballot Change The Alliance intends to seek an amendment to the national ballot paper on licensing—a twcnissue ballot paper with a choice of (1) continuance of the present system of' licensing, or, (2) transition to national trust control envisag-

ing local or district trusts to handle retail distribution in specific areas, and a national corporation to undertake manufacture and importing of liquor. “The following is proposed for the ballot paper: ‘I vote for the present licensing system’; ‘I vote for trust control’.” It is suggested that the national prohibition issue be suspended for six polls, or 18 years. The Alliance will urge that legislation include the provision that in the event of trust control being carried, no more votes will be held for a sufficient time to permit consolidation of the system, say 15 years. The rights of existing trust areas would have to be protected, said the Alliance.

The Alliance has established an education trust into which it has placed over the last two years its legacies and investments held for educational purposes. This was registered as a charitable trust, with its own board of trustees, and the Alliance has lodged with it legacy moneys of $75,900 and mortgage assets of $55,100. “The trust has acquired a first-class private hotel and three adjoining properties in the centre of Wellington and intends that the investment will take the form of high class non-licensed hotel accommodation,” said the statement. The trust has so far acquired capital assets to the value of $2,444,000,