Call for explanation of financial reform

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 26

Call for explanation of financial reform

PA Wellington The leader of the New Zealand Party, Mr Bob Jones, has urged the Government to issue a householder brochure explaining the financial restructuring the nation is undergoing. “The lesson of Timaru is that the public understandably reject change they do not comprehend,” he said. The structural financial reforms undertaken by the Government were of monumental importance to this country’s economic future. Of necessity, they entailed some short-term pain, notably in respect of inflation, he said. “They transcend party politics and comprise changes of such importance to the nation as to justify an explanatory Government

booklet explaining their nature, need, short, medium and long-term benefits,” he said. Such a booklet was appropriate when decimal coinage was introduced. It was equally appropriate to take a similar action for the current reform measures as a charge against the state. It was ridiculous that the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas, should personally be addressing suburban meetings trying to explain what is occurring, he said. “The changes which have been so widely applauded by foreign observers require explanation to the New Zealand public as a matter of urgency,” Mr Jones said.