Fear of competition seen by Minister

Press, 23 July 1987, Page 23

Fear of competition seen by Minister

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington Some sectors of New Zealand society have a real fear of competition, according to the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas. He told the second New Zealand Financial Services Conference, in Wellington, that this fear was based on the belief that competition was destructive, or would lead to an erosion in the range and quality of services provided by monopolies. Many individuals were convinced that if a service met their needs adequately it must also be

adequate for everybody else. The public needed to be educated about the real benefits of exposing New Zealand industries to competition, Mr Douglas said. Benefits in terms of employment and incomes had to be spelled out, benefits in having industries that could foot it with competitors on their own merits, and benefits in terms of improved goods and services for people. There was no more satisfying or visible example of this than changes brought about by the longoverdue deregulation of

civil aviation, he said. People could hardly fail to notice the dramatic changes taking place at the airports. Labour’s programme of reform centred on action to increase competition in product markets, to strengthen the responsiveness of markets,- and to secure increased efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector. Mr Douglas said that throughout this process of reform it was important to ensure that the public perceived the benefits that would flow to them as a result.