Petrol-tax loading “not acceptable"

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33750, 24 January 1975, Page 12

Petrol-tax loading “not acceptable"

“Extreme disappoint- i ment” with the editorial j on petrol tax which ap- 1 peared in “The Press” j yesterday was expressed < by the general manager ' of the Automobile Asso- <

ciation (Canterbury), Mr E. S. Palliser. Automobile associations, which represented 600,000 New Zealand motorists, would regard as unacceptable any artificial boosting of petrol tax aimed simply at trying to force motorists to use less fuel, he said. Such a move would also be highly inflationary, and it would hit hardest at the less wealthy sections of the community. Motorists generally were already “playing the game” where fuel-saving was concerned, Mr Palliser said, and the petrol consumption figures fo. 1974, which were little greater than 1973 in spite of a significant increase in the number of vehicles, illustrated this. The price of fuel was already sufficiently high to discourage wasteful use of petrol, and it must be real-

ised that for many people the car was not a luxury, but a necessity. New Zealand motorists already paid heavily for their motoring, Mr Palliser said, with 21.1 c of the 69c for a gallon of premium petrol going in tax, and exorbitant sales taxes on new cars.

The National Roads Board, which hau the responsibility of providing and maintaining the highway system upon which the country’s economy heavily depended, needed extra finance, Mr Palliser said. The 3c a gallon tax on petrol which now went to local authorities had been opposed by the automobile association movement from the- beginning, and it was felt that the money would be much better directed to the oads board. Certainly, any artificial tax loading aimed at cutting consumption would not be acceptable, Mt Palliser said, and representations along these lines had already been made by the A.A. movement to the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling). There was a level below which most motorists could not significantly reduce their use of fuel, he said, and many were already close to this point. As the automobile associ-.

ations had said in their submissions to the Prime Minister, the petrol vehicle was an integral part of New Zealand’s way of life, providing the only method of daily transport for some, access for - farmers, and transport for thousands of essential business travellers,' repair servicemen, school buses, and so on, Mr-Palliser said.

The associations had also said that they believed any attempt to classify the use of petrol vehicles, particularly cars and stationwaggons, into those used wnolely or partly for private -social purposes, would be resented by the community, he said.

A twO-tier petrol tax system, as suggested in the editorial in “The Press,” would appear to involve considerable practical difficulties, Mr Palliser said. In his opinion, it Could lead to a blackmarket situation* and it would also involve immense administrative expense, as did petrol rationing during the war years. If the actual cost of fuel from producers rose, then the user must pay, Mr Palliser said, but there was no justification for making the burden on the already overtaxed motorist any heavier than absolutely necessary.