Inter-island freight debated

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33062, 1 November 1972, Page 16

Inter-island freight debated

If the Cook Strait ferry service were treated as a bridge, the reduction in freight rates from the South Island to the North would automatically apply equally to North Island consignors of goods to the south, the general manager of railways (Mr T. M. Small) said yesterday.

"It is quite clearly a question of regional location of industry that is involved, and not a transport problem as such,” Mr Small said. He was answering Mr D. R. Dowell, a Christchurch City Council delegate to the South Island Local Bodies’ Association’s conference who proposed that the service should be treated as a bridge, and who later replied to comments by Mr P. P. Geddes, the Railways Department’s assistant general manager (finance and administration).

Mr Dowell had misquoted or misinterpreted Mr Geddes’s remarks, Mr Small said. Mr Geddes had not said the service had to be costed separately “because it was not in any way associated with the railway service.” He had simply pointed out that the costs associated with interisland traffic were quite different from those associated with movements within one island or the other. In suggesting that the department was putting an unreasonable cost barrier against producers and manufacturers in the South Island by what he called "the surcharge on the ferries and the differential freight rates,” was he implying that the loss of revenue that would occur if through rates were charged should be recouped from other rail users, such as those who consigned goods from say Invercargill to Christchurch or Auckland to Whangarei? Mr Small asked. It had to be appreciated that the movement of goods from Christchurch to Feilding (a half-way point mentioned by Mr Dowell) cost more than the transport of a similar quantity from Auckland to Fei'fing, Mr Small said.

“The present arrangements seem to be the more equitable from a transport point of view.

“To regard the necessary disparity between the Christ-church-Feilding and Auck-land-Feilding charges as a form of discrimination against South Island manufacturers appears to overlook completely the fact that exactly the same disparity exists in

respect of consignments from Feilding to Christchurch and Christchurch to Feilding.” Although he had moved the remit at the association’s conference, it had been supported by all the local bodies in the South Island. Mr Dowell said last evening. “If it is appreciated that this is election year and therefore the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) might not want to get involved personally,” Mr Dowell said. “However, I suggest that the executive officers of the Railways Department would not be getting into a personal quarrel without the knowledge and approval of their Minister.

“This matter must be one of policy and is of such great interest to the South Island that I would be more impressed and prepared to answer back if the Minister himself was bold enough to give his views and not leave others to obey his instructions.”