Fuel figures not available

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33448, 1 February 1974, Page 2

Fuel figures not available

i.Xcu' Zealand Press .Association

WELLINGTON, January 31. Ihe Federation of Labour had accepted that it was not possible at this stage for the Government to give an analysis of figures on the oil situation, the president of the F.O.L. (Mr T. E. Skinner) said tonight.

.Mr Skinner, as head of an F.O.L. delegation, had earlier met the Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) and his Under-Secretary (Mr Isbey) to ask that “the whole figures on the cost of oil” be made public. Before the meeting Mr Skinner said the public) should know what the retailers’ margins were, what the Government took in tax, and what the profits of the oil companies were. The Minister of Trade and Industry (Mr Freer) later joined the meeting. Mr Freer said earlier today that he appreciated the action taken by the Motorsport Association in cancelling the Heatway rally and the Marlboro rally series. “1 know that calling off these events will be a bitter blow to motor sport enthusiasts,” the Minister said ;in a statement. “But, as the ) association points out, this action will save a great deal ;of fuel, and the association is to be commended for its public-spirited move.” ) Mr Freer also thanked the. Mana Go-Kart Club and the; Wellington Power Boat As-' sociation, which had announced that they would) ; curtail their activities. “These latest moves, and 1 those already being made by 1 other groups ranging from speedway organisations to kennel clubs, are setting a fine example in the present crisis,” he said. “The Government regrets

that people have had to make these sacrifices, but we appreciate their efforts all the more because they are voluntary.”