‘Publication meaningless’

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 3

‘Publication meaningless’

(N.Z. Press Association/ | WELLINGTON. March 6. The publication of an undefined rise in the cost to retailers of one! line of biscuits, for example, was in itself i quite meaningless to the i general public, said the Minister of Industries , and Commerce (Mr Tai-1 boys) today. “That is why I have de- ' cided not to continue the ] practice of issuing a weekly , analysis of increases ap- j proved under the price justification scheme.” he said. Mr Taiboys said that it was 1 not possible to give the pub- i lie full and meaningful infor- i mation on every price rise. I He was commenting on a < statement by the Opposition < spokesman on industries and I

-commerce, Mr W. W. Freer, who said that he found it in-i credible that Mr Taiboys; thought that information about price rises had no significance to the public. Mr Freer said the Labour Party called on the Minister |to reverse his decision, not i only to keep the public informed, but also to record the number of increases in which payroll tax played a role in the justification. Not all trades took advantage of the approval immedi-| .ately, and it would be wrong |to inform the public to ex-1 pect a price rise which didnot eventuate, said Mr Tal-i boys. “CONFIDENTIAL” In other cases the vital information was why prices needed to rise. "It is not possible to publish full information without breaching the confidence within which most of this information is obtained,” he said.

The statistics of the number of price rises approved since the inception of the scheme were particularly misleading, he said. In some cases, an approval might apply to the whole range of a company’s products or to products produced by a whole industry.

He said that Mr Freer, apart from wanting to know the number of increases in which the payroll tax had : been a factor, apparently was not interested in other reasons such as wage increases, higher costs of imported raw materials and transport charges. “Surely all these factors are just as important when determining whether an increase in the price of a certain item is justified,” said: Mr Taiboys.