BROADCASTING SURPLUS OF £698,000

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21183, 5 August 1940, Page 6

BROADCASTING SURPLUS OF £698,000

At a time when any possible relief should be given to a heavily taxed people the appeal for a reduction of the radio license fee in the House of Representatives met with a strangely unsympathetic reception. In.the past two years the Government has been collecting from .licensees almost £130,000 a year more than is necessary to maintain the service, and at the end of the financial year the national broadcasting service had a surplus of £698,000 ! This huge sum is growing rapidly, and even though taxation is being multiplied for a very serious purpose the House of Representatives voted on purely party lines to maintain the present unreasonable fees. What is to be done with this enormous surplus ? Mr Fraser said it was intended for the establishment of the much-discussed broadcasting centre, but that project had been abandoned before the debate took place in the House, and in any case, even if the scheme is revived after the war, it is difficult to imagine that anything like the sum in hand would be required for the new centre. At the present rate the reserve may be a million pounds or more before the Government can seriously consider proceeding with the building programme. In the meantime the surplus is being utilised by the Treasury. How those who voted for the retention of the high fee can square their action with their sense of responsibility to the people it is difficult to understand.

Certainly the relief to the individual listener would not be great. Everyone who owns a radio receiver is paying about 8s a year more than is required to maintain the service. But the principle of the thing matters more. Everyone will concede that the fees must cover the cost of the service and leave a reasonable balance for extensions and improvements, but why accumulate a surplus of hundreds of thousands of pounds ? Surely sufficient money is already in hand to provide all that the service is likely to require for many years to come. The Government would have earned gratitude and approval had it met the public demand and reduced, the fee this year, even as only a gesture that it was considering the heavy burdens that the people are carrying.