MORE EXPENSIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26773, 17 May 1948, Page 6

MORE EXPENSIVE

LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND COMPARISON WITH AUSTRALIA OFOTIKI, May 15. The opinion that New Zealand is a much more expensive country to live in than Australia was expressed by Mr W. Sullivan, M.P. for Bay of Plenty, in an address at Opotiki to-night. ' Mr Sullivan, accompanied by his wife, recently spent several weeks in Australia and said that as a matter of interest he had made a close study of prices in the. shops there. Clothing Much Cheaper “The myth of lower prices in New Zealand is soon exploded when one looks at prices in Sydney shops,” said Mr Sullivan. “As far as I could judge, the general price level here is from 20 to 30 per cent higher than in Australia. Clothing prices are much below current prices here, and all classes of clothing, including shirts, are in ample supply. “It is possible, of course, to buy clothing at sky-high prices in Australia, but I was informed that such goods were imported, and therefore subject to a very high tariff. As an example of Australian prices, referring to goods of local manufacture, shirts of good quality can be obtained readily at from 10s to 18s each, and good overcoats from about £5. Shoes and boots are priced about the same as here.

“ Groceries, and goods of local manufacture generally, are much cheaper in Australia than here, except for some isolated items. Price lists are issued periodically by the Australian Government, and anyone who is interested can check up for himself.” Lower Housing Costs

Mr Sullivan said it was often said that housing cost’s were a fair index of price levels. As a builder he had given particular attention to the building situation in Australia, and he was satisfied that building costs were 20 to 30 per .cent, below New Zealand levels for houses of comparable quality. Fruit was very cheap. Apples and pears were about the same price as in New Zealand, but bananas were 12 for sixpence, pineapples 8d to Is eacn. and oranges 8d a pound. Bananas had been selling at 4s to 5s for a 751 b, case. During his stay in Sydney he had been approached by the Murwillumbah Growers’ Association to see whether they could send larger shipments of bananas to New Zealand, but shipping appeared to be the bottleneck, and this was seriously affected by the slow turn-round of ships.