MINISTER WILLING TO CONSIDER CASES NOT ALREADY COVERED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22890, 9 March 1949, Page 8

MINISTER WILLING TO CONSIDER CASES NOT ALREADY COVERED

STATE FLOOD RELIEF

“The special purpose of my visit to Gisborne was to ensure that all cases of hardship which could be relieved by State action were treated with consideration. I find that practically all the claims lodged have been satisfied, and that only a small number of special cases are still under action,” said the Minister of Finance, Mr. W. Nash, after meeting flood-relief agencies in Gisborne yesterday.

He expressed satisfaction with the-* position as he found it, and stated that he had agreed to consider, in consulta- , tion with Treasury officers, certain re- j commendations that emerged from his i discussions. I

One of these was a recommendation that outlays made by farmers in restoring fences and other assets damaged by flood action should be treated as maintenance. Replacement of Fence-Lines The argument was advanced that while the fences as they stood prior to the flood were a capital investment, their replacement after demolition by flood-waters was in the nature of repairs.

Mr. Nash was tshed by representatives of die federated Farmers to neat such expenditure as being maintenance outlay deductible from annual income for taxation purposes.

This submission .threw light on a new angle to an old question, Mr. Nash said, and he had agreed to take it under consideration with oilier matters arising from his Gisborne discussions. Capital outlay on fences was normally treated as an investment to earn income, and was not recognised as deductible from the income for taxation purposes. Pie thought there might be something in the proposition made by Gisborne farmers. Another matter on which he proposed to spend thought was the application of the Cook County Council for an extension of the subsidy system to meet the needs of back-country roads.

It had been represented that on some of these roads there was constant expense involved in re-surfacing due to the erosive incursions of flood-waters. The council proposed to seal such portions of access roads, and wished to secure additional finance from the State to help in this process. The council’s spokesmen had agreed that the Government had already made generous provision for flood-damage restoration on existing works. The Minister expressed keen appreciation of the open-hearted generosity shown by district people towards flood sufferers during the critical period of last year. The Government had been much impressed by the self-reliance of the district, and had been glad to cooperate to the full in making good the damage.

The Minister stated in reply to a question that if there were any floodrelief claims which had not been submitted, owing to misunderstandings regarding the scope of the’ Government’s offer, they would still receive consideration. The district member, Mr D. W. Coleman, had advised all flood sufferers through a newspaper announcement that relief in this district would be on the same scale as in the Frankton tornado area.