The Press SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1966. D Minus 365

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31107, 9 July 1966, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1966. D Minus 365

A year from tomorrow, if everything goes according to plan, New Zealanders will begin using dollars and cents. New Zealand’s change to decimal currency will be eased by our having learnt from the experience of South Africa and Australia. Australia’s change on February 14 this year has been described as a “ social revolution ”, a rather extravagant way to describe a simple, though carefully planned, change from one form of currency to another. New Zealand would do well to emphasise the simplicity of the change so far as it affects the great majority of the public rather than the complexities which will concern the few. There will, of course, be difficulties while the old and the new currencies are used side by side; but even this should not cause confusion. Apart from half-pennies, pennies, and threepenny pieces, all present coins and notes will readily convert into the new currency.

During the next year the public should be educated to think in decimals. In Australia most of the confusion since the change has been caused by a tendency for people mentally to convert dollars and cents back into the old currency which is being phased out Dr. N. W. Davey, secretary of the Australian Decimal Currency Board, said in Wellington last week that the pace of the change in Australia had been set by the speed at which cash registers and office machines can be converted. Australia did not favour partial or temporary conversion of machines, but preferred full conversion. Nevertheless, an important part of the change will be the conversion of the cash registers and machines with which the public come “ face-to-face ”. Preparing people for the change will be one of the biggest public relations tasks ever faced in New Zealand. The signs are that the Decimal Currency Board will be equal to the task. Already it has organised seminars for businessmen and journalists, not only to put forward its own proposals but to seek suggestions and advice. Simple conversion, known as the “ key top ” method, and the blocking off of some keys on more sophisticated machines could speed the change in New Zealand. It is vital that retail trading should not be slowed down for lack of cash registers that show dollars and cents when the keys are pressed. Short-cut conversion means, of course, that a retailer would have more back-room conversion to do in calculating the day’s takings; but it would help the public to adjust to the currency more quickly. The public should not be allowed to become preoccupied with the problem of learning how to handle two currencies at the same time. They will need to do so; for that is part of the mechanics of the change. But the emphasis must be on decimal thinking. Every person spending money in any currency has to decide how best his money can be spent. This individual choice of how to spend money is the basis of society as we know it and is the key to the free-market mechanism. Individual choice will remain: it will have the same importance in dollars and cents as it does now in pounds, shillings, and pence. Everyone must learn to relate the amount of money in hand to his needs and how he can most economically satisfy them. Prominent dual priceticketing of goods in shops and stores would be helpful during the next 12 months: it would permit a more rapid change to single pricing after July 10, 1967. The next year should be one of intense preparation to welcome the New Zealand dollar.