Big Crowd Turns Out To Hear Mr Sutherland Speak

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 65, 18 November 1949, Page 5

Big Crowd Turns Out To Hear Mr Sutherland Speak

At Te Teko Hall last night 103 people—a big crowd for Te Teko—turned out to hear Mr A. S. Sutherland, Nationalist M.P. for Hauraki, expound the National Party’s policy. The meeting passed a resolution heartily endorsing the policy, and expressing the opinion that its implementation would arrest the “march of Socialism, with its cramping effect on individual initiative and enterprise, and would restore to Newf Zealand an era of freedom, prosperity and plenty.” There was one dissentient.

Having touched on M.P.’s superannuation, which he thought should be self-supporting, and land policy with particular reference to freeholds for Crown lessees (on which point he claimed recent Government Legislation, was contradictory) Mr Sutherland referred to the “crushing burden” of taxation of £7l 4s 7d per head that the country carried at the present time. He opined Nash would hot let go of any of it, but pointed out that Canada had been progressively reducing taxation and claimed that if we wanted to do the same we must remove Mr Nash from his office. One of the first matters to be investigated would be a reduction of sales tax.

To an interjector who reminded him of present day medical benefits compared with pre-Labour days, Mr Sutherland pointed out that malnutrition was found in 5.48 per 1000 of our population in 1933 and in over 9 per cent today. Mr Sutherland said something must be done about the immense losses on State-owned and operated transport. . His Party proposed to set up a Board to co-ordinate r»oad, rail, sea and air transport, also to see that transport licenses were granted for longer periods, to assure continuity of service.