OVERSEAS CAPITAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 1 December 1945, Page 4

OVERSEAS CAPITAL

INVESTMENT IN N.Z. NOT ENCOURAGED GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION OF BUSINESSES CRITICISM OF NATIONAL AIRWAYS BILL (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) Wellington, Nov. 30. What encouragement was there for overseas capital to come to New Zealand to establish industries, to over come early losses and get them on their feet, only to find that they were then going to be acquired by the Government? This was the main theme of opposition which was offered by the Hon. W. Perry (Wellington) to the passage of the New Zealand National Airways Bill in the Legislative Council. Mr Perry and the Hon. E. It. Davis 'Auckland) were the only speakers against the measure during the second reading debate, and the Bill was put through all stages and passed without a division. Mr Perry said that the increasingly rapid implementation of the Govern ment’s policy of acquiring businesses which had been established by private enterprise had caused some concern.

“Everyone knows,” he said, "that at this very moment there are very large amounts of money in New Zealand awaiting investment, and I should have thought that there was no more propitious time for the development of these airline companies, and no more propitious time for their obtaining the necessary capital for that purpose than now.” He had always held the view that New Zealand needed to develop its secondary industries, and in order to do that capital was required—and capital from overseas, as it had been obtained since development commenced in New Zealand. Far from bringing capital to the country, measures such as the Bill under consideration would frighten it away and it would not be available.

The Leader of the Council (Mr McLagan) said that at the present time the offerings of capital from overseas were much greater than the opportunities available for investment in New Zealand. There was not likely to be any dimunition of the amounts offering, because investment in New Zealand was at least as good as investment in other countries. In any case, he said, there was a fair amount of capital in New Zealand looking for investment, and it was preferable to have industries financed by our own country than by capital from overseas. “The States can do this job better than any section of the State can do it,” said Mr McLagan. “It can do it more efficiently, more cheaply, and with better advantage to the country as a whole than any private organisation could do it. That is the complete justification for the measure.”