Speculators to be curbed

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33189, 31 March 1973, Page 2

Speculators to be curbed

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 30. The Government was planning action against urban land and housing speculators, the Minister of Finance (Mr Rowling) said in an interview today.

He said he was examining the possibility of making any action retrospective, but he did not expect anything to he done before the Budget. The Government’s plans would require an amendment to the Tax Act, and Parliament would have to be sitting before this could be done.

Mr Rowling said the Government was concerned about the degree of speculation occurring in sales of urban land and housing. The Government was examining various alternatives to curb this without penalising the genuine home seller, Mr Rowling said. The sort of person who would be in “grave danger” was the

one who bought and sold a property within weeks to make profits. Mr Rowling said his own view was that a capital gains tax was too non-selective, and did not hit the people who should be restrained. “On the other hand, no person should be allowed to use the present housing shortage to his own gain,” Mr Rowling said. No-one knew better than the Government that the answer to the speculation was to provide more houses. Because of the run-down condition of the building I industry, this would take time.