‘Taxation attempt’

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 1

‘Taxation attempt’

After Mr AdamsSchneider had said, “Parliament will sit until this bill is passed,” Mr J. L. Hunt (Lab., New Lynn) accused the Government of trying to “railroad” it through in one day, while Mr R. J. Tizard (Lab,, Otahuhu) asked why the bill had not been introduced earlier if its passage was so urgent. He alleged that the early charging was an attempt to levy taxation without the authority of the House.

The Minister of Transport (Mr McLachlan) was challenged to deny that people mailing in the new licensing forms had been charged the new rate before the bill authorising the new fees had been passed. Several examples were quoted of post offices offering the new forms, while one Hamilton post office was quoted as having withdrawn its forms until the bill had been passed.

Mr McLachlan denied any similarity with the English case quoted by the Opposition. In that case the Home Office had attempted to revoke licences which had been procured at the old rate, he said. The bill before the House did not set out to revoke anything — “it is merely increasing fees.” But the new Labour member for Mangere (Mr D. Lange) said that Parliament was being asked to "rubber stamp” a measure which had already been decided. He said he believed it was wrong for the House to be rushing through legislation. "If it was good enough for the Government Printer to know weeks ago so the new forms could be printed, then it was good enough for Parliament to know,” said Mr Lange. The Opposition transpor spokesman (Sir Basil Arthur) labelled the bill as

“just another taxation ripoff,” which his party would oppose very strongly. “The handling of this whole matter has been a bungle on the part of the Government,” he said. The Opposition had repeatedly asked the Government to justify the increases, but not one member had attempted to do so. The acting Speaker (Mr Harrison) described much of the debate as "boring and repetitious,” as indeed it was. But the nub of it was that the Government had left the passage of the empowering legislation so late that it had given the abler members of the Opposition a stick to heat it with — which they did. The Government won a division on the motion to take urgency, bv 43 votes to 28. The House was still debating the bill at midnight.