AUSTRALIANS' OPINIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22412, 7 May 1936, Page 15

AUSTRALIANS' OPINIONS

Sir, —I would like to endorse the opinion expressed by Dr. J. I. Robertson, of North Sydney, that the steamship fares between Australia and New Zealand are too high, and are a strong deterrent to interchange of tourist traffic between the two countries. As Dr. Robertson stated, many people had to think twice before paying such prohibitive prices at the outset of a few weeks' vacation. During the course of a motor tour in New South Wales and Victoria 1 was many times asked the price of the fares to New Zealand by people who were interested in our country. Many were staggered at the answer and said: "Oh, well, I would like to go over, but that fare is pretty solid, so J will have to wait a bit longer." Another prejudice we found rampant in nearly every country town was the earthquake business. It. was amazing to hear people say with all seriousness that they were frightened to come over here because of the earthquakes we are alwaj-s having. It seems that every time a teacup or two rattles on a dresser it is the subject of a special write-up in every little country newspaper in Australia. It seems a tremendous pity that this should be so, as there is no doubt that many probable tourists to New Zealand cannot overcome their fears in this respect. A Sydney man said that he would like to settle in New Zealand, but that he could not persuade his mother to come with him owing to a fear of earthquakes. Another thing that was most noticeable in Australia was the paucity of New Zealand news in the papers. Sometimes there would be six lines or so, never any more. Our tourist authorities seem to be doing their work well, as even in quite small country places it was not uncommon to see posters of New Zealand interest. A comparison of country hotels, both in regard to quality of meals and accommodation, reflected very favourably on our own. As a general rule, our small hotel is far in advance of the same type of place in Australia. M. W. Clarke.