Carpet subsidy goes

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33343, 29 September 1973, Page 2

Carpet subsidy goes

(N.Z. Press Association! WELLINGTON, September 28. The Opposition’s claim that the taxpayer had been subsidising foreign carpet manufacturers whose product competed against carpet exports from New Zealand had been confirmed by the Government, the Opposition spokesman on trade and industry' (Mr B. E. Taiboys) said today.

He was commenting on the announcement by the Minister of Trade and Industry (Mr Freer) today that the Government had abandoned the subsidy on the export of carpet yarn. Mr Taiboys said the

Minister suggested that the “savings” would amount to about slom, but his colleague, the Minister of Finance, had allowed only slom of taxpayers’ funds this year for the whole scheme.

He said the adjustments necessary to produce this “saving” were “small,” but obviously the increased cost of raw material would be 11 per cent in the woollen goods and 33 1/3 per cent for carpets and carpet yarns, Mr Taiboys said. No-one would miss the fact that this was the second time, while the Prime Minister had been abroad, that his Ministers had been required to announce unpalatable decisions on his behalf. “The Government is clearly determined to try to preserve the artificial profile of the Prime Minister and, as he is due to visit Australia later this year, the consumer will await—with some apprehension—the announcement of

ithe abandonment of other elements of the Government’s policy,” Mr Taiboys said.

“NO EFFECT” The Government’s decision to discontinue the wool equalisation scheme on exports of carpet yam would not affect the activities of Alliance Textiles (N.Z.) Ltd, the company’s managing director (Mr B. A. R. Spence) said today.

Mr Spence said that Alliance had been selling large quantities of carpet yarn to Australia and SouthEast Asia at prices which fully reflected the auction price of wool. “The amount of equalisation subsidy which our company has received is therefore not repayable, in full, to the Government.

"Alliance expects the export and domestic sales of all-wool carpet yarn to increase substantially over the next 12 months,” Mr Spence said.