REVENUE FOR ROADS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19163, 21 November 1927, Page 15

REVENUE FOR ROADS.

NEW SOUTH WALES " GRAB." MOTORISTS UP IN ARMS. (PHOU OUB OWN COERESPOKDEKT.) SYDNEY, November 10. One of the worst blunders of the Lang Government was what was known as the main roads "grab." It was the bete noir of motorists, and not without sound reason, since, in the next ten years, they will pay into the Treasury £30,000,000 or more in taxation, for the privilege of owning cars, which today are not merely a luxury but are a business necessity. The roads "grab," which Mr Bavin is going to abolish just as quickly as he can, may be explained thus: During the present financial year the motorists of New South Wales will probably pay to the State, by way of taxation, about £1,500,000. If the "grab," as it is popularly known, had been allowed to stand, only about £565,000 of that sum would have been handed to the Main Roads Board for road work. The scale of motor taxation in New South Wales is about the highest in the Commonwealth. Motorists suffered that, philosophically, but it was the proverbial last straw when they realised, in effect, that the Main Roads Board was going to be restricted and pinched, because of its inability to handle the whole of the money which motorists believed they were paying in taxes for the specific purpose of better and more roads. One of the election cries was that the Board) had more funds than it was able to spend. Road users and local authorities knew, from bitter experience, and so also did the Board itself, that such was not the case. The fact that the "grab" is to be abolished, and that the State is now to receive the benefit of the Federal Government's main road aid for the next ten years, has opened up a new era for the Board. Although the Main Roads Board has received perhaps more bricks than bouquets, those in a position to judge recognise that it has done magnificent work with the money at its command.