PETROL TAX.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19178, 8 December 1927, Page 8

PETROL TAX.

SOUTH ISLAND'S SHARE.

PROGRESS LEAGUE'S DISCUSSION.

•The executive of the Canterbury Progress League last night decided to support the action of the Otago Expansion League in bringing pressure to bear on the Government with a view to ensuring that tho South Island gets a fair and equitable share of the petrol tax. Mr F. W. Freeman said that the matter would be fully discussed at the quarterly meeting of tho South Island Motor Union at Invercargill to-inorrow. Mr G. Maginness said that since Mr Coates had stated that he had no in. tcntion of robbing the South Island of its fair share of the petrol tax, he should have no objection to putting it down in black and white. He thought that tho revenue from all sources of motorists' taxation should bo allocated according to the number of vehicles in a district. The West Coast had raised only £6OOO from such sources, yet £30,000 had been spent there. This meant that some other district had had to mako up the difference. Why was so much spent there? he asked. Mr Freeman: Government roads.

Mr Maginness: But why should Government roads bo maintained out of highway funds? The chairman (Mr J. E. Strachan) said that he understood that a certain proportion of the fund was earmarked for a certain purpose. Mr Maginness said that 8 per cent, of the fund was to be deducted for the cities, leaving 92 per cent, for other purposes. Mr E. M. Macfarlane said that oven to tho Christchurch City Council the mattor was not at all clear. He suggested, therefore, that the matter be held over pending the receipt of further information. Mr Freeman said that out of fourteen urban areas in the Dominion only five were in the South Island. There was thus the possibility of the South Island beiiig done a grave injustice. On tho motion of Mr J. H. Blackwell, it was decided to assure the Otago Ex-p.-.nsion League that it would have the support of tho Progress Loague in respect to the South Island obtaining justice in the allocation of the petrol tax, and to refer the matter to the Highways Committee to obtain any further information it could on the matter.

The chairman reported that when the report on the highways, which was being prepared by the League's special committee, was presented he thought it would be found that it would go a long way towards solving the problem.