Full duty paid on Tizard stereo, Parliament told

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33857, 31 May 1975, Page 2

Full duty paid on Tizard stereo, Parliament told

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 30. Full customs duty and sales tax had been paid on stereo equipment brought into New Zealand under his name last week, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance (Mr Tizard) said today.

Yesterday, Mr Tizard was accused by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Muldoon) of trying to “slip in” goods subject to provisions in the Budget before the Budget had been announced. Mr Muldoon has lodged a question for next Tuesday, asking if duty was paid or the goods. In a personal explanation tn Parliament todav. Mr Tizard said that the stereo equip-

ment was bought in Tokyo in mid-April by his wife, Mrs Catherine Tizard. who accompanied him on a Ministerial visit to Japan and the Philippines.

Mrs Tizard had planned to purchase the equipment since learning she would accompany him in February, said the Minister. Because they were not returning direct to New Zealand from Tokyo, Mrs Tizard planned to send the equipment back as unaccompanied baggage, said the Minister. Reason for licence She was told that she could not get duty concessions unless the goods were in her possession when she reentered New Zealand, and that to return them as unaccompanied baggage she would need an import licence: she obtained one. Mr Tizard said that the equipment was left in the care of the Air New Zealand agent in Tokyo, who assured Mrs Tizard that it would be in New Zealand when she arrived back. Three weeks after her return, the equipment had not arrived and urgent inquiries were made. No duty exemption was sought on the eventual arrival of the goods, Mr Tizard said, and there was no reason that he should seek to expedite their delivery when he would have known that no changes in duty or. sales tax were proposed in the Budget. Left cheque The goods arrived at Auckland Airport on the Thursday, but Mrs Tizard had been unable to clear them before returning to Wellington. Instead. she had left a blank, signed cheque with an Auckland customs agent. However,

part of the customs office had closed before the duty had been assessed, and the matter had been referred to Wellington to have the duty and sales tax worked out. Full dutv and sales tax had been paid. Mr Tizard said that Mr Muldoon had known the full explanation when he first raised the matter with the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling) on Tuesday — two days before it was raised publicly. Name on documents After Mr Tizard had made his explanation, Mr Muldoon was given leave to make a statement. He said that copies he had received of the consignment documents showed they were in the name of Mr R. J. Tizard, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Last night was the first time he had been told that full dutv had been paid on the consignment. Before Mr Tizard made his statement, senior politicians argued whether he was abusing the rules of the House in seeking to make a personal statement — a request which is rarely refused — on a Ministerial matter. Mr Muldoon said that it was quite improper for Mr Tizard to seek this leave, knowing that a personal explanation could not be questioned. but a Ministerial statement gave the Leader of the Opposition the chance to mn v e a brief comment. He had raised the matter with Mr Rowling on Tuesday, but there still was “a considerable area of questioning unanswered.”

‘Told on Tuesday’

Mr Rowling said that he had given Mr Muldoon the background to the situation on Tuesday. This had “clearly demonstrated that any questions which might have been raised with regard to any possible impropriety were completely answered,” The Prime Minister said that inquiries would be made into how the documents had been disclosed. Mr Muldoon said that the Government had already been given the source of the Ooposition’s information, but there were still questions on how the import licence had been obtained, whether the correct duty was paid, why the baggage had been rushed through under a misplaced-baggage label, and why Air New Zealand had carried the goods free of charge. Mr Muldoon’s question on the stereo equipment will remain on the Order Paper for Tuesday, unless he seeks

I leave to withdraw it beforeI hand. After his return to Auck- • land this afternoon, Mr Muli doon said that the informaI tion he had received about i the Tizard stereo equipment did not come from anybody • at the airport: he had reI ceived a Photostat of the Air : New Zealand way-bill at . “second, third, or fourth i hand.” He would not reveal who gave him the information. Airline statement

A spokesman for Air New Zealand said in Auckland that the airline had carried Mrs Tizard’s stereo equipment from Hong Kong to Auckland '”ee of charge. “The gear was’ mislaid in Tokyo, and was sent on to Hong Kong, where we took over and brought it to New Zealand. This is the normal procedure for what we call ‘mishandled baggage’,” said the spokesman.