Trustee banks to change — Socred

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 2

Trustee banks to change — Socred

Trustee savings banks 1 would be changed to region-; al development banks under! a Social Credit government,] the league decided at itsj conference at Lincoln yesterday. j Delegates to the four-day, conference yesterday debated' and passed three finance! remits in what was a slow start to the day’s business. : Speaking in favour of the! change in status of trustee, banks, Social Credit’s finance spokesman (Mr L. Hunter) said that the banks would be put under the control of the people through] their elected representatives. As much autonomy as possible would be given to each regional development bank in providing investment capital for its area. Savings would be Govern-ment-guaranteed. Trustees would be elected by the depositors. The relationship between the Post Office Savings Bank, trustee savings banks, the Development Finance Corporation, and the Rural Bank would also be rationalised. At present trustee banks were no more than an executive arm of Government — all trustees were appointed by the Minister of Finance, (Mr Muldoon), Mr Hunter said. Loan money would be

used for regional development. The same scheme was working under the Social Credit Government in British Columbia — “But

: they are doing it a different way,” said Mr Hunter. A call came for the abolition of death duties to a level “which fully protects,! the family home, farm or; business.” Mr Hunter told delegates! that farms and small businesses must be passed on to] immediate family members without “undue hard-! ship. “Death duties at the top end of the scale should be] such to discourage property aggregation. With automation increasingly replacing people, a Social Credit government would also introduce a national dividend for all citizens, the conference decided. Mr G. Clover, the delegate for Papanui, described the call as no more than a “gigantic hand-out.” Mr A. Scott. Social Credit’s candidate for Eden, said that the national dividend was already part of the league’s policy.