Roading ‘election bribe’

Press, 25 June 1981, Page 21

Roading ‘election bribe’

Wellington office The Government was using reading money as “an elec-tion-year bribe” and, predictably, next year would starve the’ roads of money, according to the chairman of the Municipal Association, Mr A. F. Thomas. Mr Thomas presented a comparison of the total revenue of the Government, the National Roads Board subsidies to local government, and the inflation rate from 1969 to 1981, to a National Roads Board meeting.

The Minister of Works (Mr W. L. Young) who is chairman of the board, was not present at the meeting. Mr Thomas said that Government revenue from taxes had risen by 576 per cent since 1969, but inflation had only risen by 312 per cent. Board subsidies to both counties and municipalities had risen by 196 per cent in the same period. If board subsidies had kept pace with inflation, local authorities in 1980-81 would have received $ll6 million

instead of the $B3 million that the central Government had allocated. If subsidies had increased at the same rate as central Government revenue, local authorities would have received $l9O million in subsidies instead of $B3 million, said Mr Thomas. “Board funds more or less kept pace with the rate of inflation until the Government assumed office,” Mr Thomas said. His summary showed that the Government considered roading of much lower prior-

ity than other sectors of Government expenditure, which had kept pace with or exceeded the inflation rate. Mr Thomas quoted a recent statement by the president of the Counties Association, Mr T. Ward: “The roading system is on the brink of collapse." The Secretary of Transport, Mr J. A. Healey, accused Mr Thomas of “politicking” and said that any cursory inspection of the roading system would show that it was first-class.