COUNTING THE COST

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16493, 10 November 1927, Page 7

COUNTING THE COST

TAXATION OF MOTORISTS FINANCIAL WIZARD AT WORK PRIME MINISTER IN REPLY PROTECTING PRIMARY PRODUCER (Parliamentary Reporter.; WELLINGTON, this clay, j Crowded galleries listened to Sir Joseph Ward and the Prime Minister, Mr. Coates, juggle with hundreds ot thousands of pounds in the House last night, when the second reading debate on the Motor Spirit Taxation Rill was in progress. W ending his way through a maze of figures, Sir Joseph endeavored to show that motorists were being compelled to suffer a tremendous imposition. There were approximately 150,000 people interested in the ownerchip of motor vehicles in New Zea- ' land, he said, and those people were ■being asked to pay another £760,000 in taxation by way of a duty of 4d a gallon 'on petrol. Last year 45,000,000 gallons of petrol were imported, and at 4d a gaiion one got £750,000. If one capitalised theft sum at 5 per cent, year after year, one found it was the equivalent of £75,000,000. WHAT THE MOTORIST PAYS. Sir Joseph said he \vpuld show what motorists had to pay. First, there was a tyre tax, which amounted to £IBO,OOO. Next, there were license fees, which totalled £550,000, and thirdly, the petrol tax, totalling £750,000. Then the Government had put £400,000 duty on bodies last year. Thus one found that the motorist was paying £1,608,000 annually. In the last two years motorists had paid £2,700,000. The Government was forcing this payment in order to save landowners and public bodies from paying their proportion of loading costs. Were motorists the only ones to pay? asked Sir Joseph. No one would deny that this new system would enhance the value of properties. Why should not the money be raised by way of loan. Some roading scheme could he carried out without murdering the taxpayer. A BETTERMENT TAX. Sir Joseph said there was a strong current of opinion in the country that the tyre tax was being imposed to kilt competition with railways. Personally, he would not lend his ear to such suspicions, hut that was a general opinion. The Hon. W. Nosworthy: It is absolutely incorrect. Sir Joseph said that the Government ■was, in effect, doing what no Government would dare to do with the railways, It was putting the bettermerit tax on the user of the railways. Would anyone penalise a man because he used the railways three or fog;’ times a day? The, Hon. O. J. Hawken: Of course you do. You pay more in fares. Sir Joseph said that in this tax the motorists would pay more than was paid in land tax' by property owners from North Cape to Bluff, and, comparatively speaking, it was not such a long way behind the total income tax. «When one looked at the land tax and compared it with this tax on motorists, one saw that the petrol tax was out of all reason. It was a monstrous imposition. WHy do it jflien everything that was wanted could be got in another way? It was unwise to try to run a mile in a minute when one could manage a quarter of a. mile in three minutes. "TOTALLY INCORRECT!” The Prime immediately rose to reply. He began by stating that the member, for Invercargill was incorrect in his reference to the capitalisation of £750,000. This point was argued out at some length between Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Coates, the member for Nelson, Mr. H. Atmore, coming into the dispute to uphold Sir Joseph. Thereupon Mr. Coates retorted that he did nob pretend to be a financial wizard, but he did know that two and two made four, and what had been said was totally incorrect. Sir Joseph : Well, it yon are not a financial wizard you have got to remember that you are the man who gels things done. Mr. Coates: I have waited some time to hear the right honorable gentleman say that, and now he has said it. (Laughter.) The Prime Minister said he was sure the member for Invercargill would not seriously advocate the borrowing of £1,000,000 as a satisfactory system for I roading. That could not be, because it was the hon. gentleman’s habit to belabor the Government for too much borrowing. There were 9400 miles of road on which some' £15,000,000 had been expended by way of capital expenditure, and it was for the country to see that those roads were maintained. The interest on £15,000,000 amounted to £750,000. Mr. Coates then quoted a list of figures showing that after the motorist had provided part of the money necessary there was still a deficiency of £895,000, which could (inly be found by local bodies. Then there were some 30,000 miles of road to he provided for, and those roads had cost local bodies.and' the Government about £20.000.000. Generally speaking, the Public Works Department had had good value for the money spent. When we "v came to say that we could maintain those roads at their present standard by simply dropping our hands into some imaginary -well full of sovereigns we had to ask if the money was there. Of course it was not 'ffiere. BACK TO THE ARK. Mr. Coates said that after all the ■ petrol tax was only on the principle of a toll tax. If a man used the road he paid, and ff he did not use the road lie did not pay. Sir Joseph : Oh, have we got to go back to the ark again and establish tolls. . Mr. Coates said he thought the principle that the user should pay was a good one. What he wanted to avoid was the piling up of costs against the primary producers. Those costs could so pile up that the primary producer would no longer be able to pay rating costs. . , , Mr. V. 11. Potter: Never mind the secondary producer. Mr. Coates. Tfe is different. He either goes on or closes up. and he does not leave his property. The country’s first consideration must he for the great stable industry, and to see that costs are not passed on.