Australian Dollars Still Confusing

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 9

Australian Dollars Still Confusing

In spite of nation-wide publicity many Australians, especially the elderly, were very much confused by the change to decimal currency, and there was strong buyer resistance, said Mr J. F. McCafferty, the Mayor of Toowoomba, in Christchurch on Saturday. Mr McCafferty said he was amazed at the ignorance displayed by people over the new currency. “They can’t translate the values,’’ he said. • “Rrising prices have caught up with a lot of people. It will all settle down in the end, but in the meantime people are showing buyers’ resistance,” he said. It was particularly hard on the older people who were very confused over the change. He had noticed that pensioners on pension day instead of doing shopping, were going straight home with their money. Mr McCafferty is the head of a party of more than 140 local body and businessmen and women from Toowoomba, Queensland, who are making a good-will visit to New Zealand. The visit is a reciprocal one. last year, Mr McCafferty came to New Zealand with a Toowoomba cricket team and was given a mayoral reception in Rotorua. He invited the Mayor of Rotorua to come with a party last September to attend the Carnival of Flowers.

“We hope our return visit will be the first of many such good-will visits, said Mr McCafferty. Mr McCafferty has been Toowoomba’s mayor for the last eight years, and although it is a city of only 55,000, he describes it as “very alive.” It has its own television station and three years ago, Mr McCafferty started his own programme called “The Mayor Speaks.” Each Sunday for 10 minutes he speaks on topical local body subjects. The programme has become very popular and is viewed throughout a large area in Queensland. Mr McCafferty is very proud of his administration’s achievements over the last few years and especially so of the recently completed £2}m dam which will ensure adequate water supply to Toowoomba for the next 20 years. Mr McCafferty said the council had taken positive steps to relieve the rate burden of old age pensioners. Pensioners living alone automatically receive a 10 dollar rebate each year on their rates. As well the Council had about 45 pensioners units which were let for five shillings a week. There were also six church homes for the aged based on the motel principle.