MINISTER DEFENDS PETROL SCHEME

Chronicle (Levin), 23 May 1946, Page 3

MINISTER DEFENDS PETROL SCHEME

—P? ess Associatio?

SAYS MOTORISTS HAVE ASKED FOR IT

By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, i»iay 22. "I feel that the wkole of the inotor ing public of New Zealand will wclcomi the ehange and will give the nev systein a fair and reasonable triai especially as there will be an additiona 800, UUO gallons a montli available ti meet their neetls, " said the Minister oi Supply and Mhnitions, Hon. D. (4. Sul livan, when replying tonight to Criti cisni of the ehange to overall petroj rationing to eoine into force on June 1, He added it was the opinion of the Government anel also of tlie oil conipanies that, having regard to the fact that we were in the middle of the winter period' and that in fact manv motoris'Ss had not redeemed sonie ot their coupons or the full value of theii licences in recent nionths, supplies which were now available should bc adequate to meet all reasonable demands on the basis of the overali rationing hc announced on Tuesday. Mr. Sullivan deprecated the tenor of editorials which had appeared in Auckland and Wellington nietropolitan morniug papcrs ycsterdav concorning tlie chauge in the petrol rationing systein. He criticised in particular the ! published rei;iarks attributed to Mr. E. i A. Bait, chainnan of the Wellington Automobile Association, which, the Minister said, had bcen printed throughont the Dominion and which, he i couteiided, were calculated to reiuler u disscrvice to the motoring public for wlioiri Mr. Butt claimed to speak. "The Motor Unious have beeu passj ing resolutions making strong representations to ino ever since V E Day, for J Ihe abolition of petrol rationing," said I the Miuister. "I liave nnulo it clear j t'rom timo to timi: tiiis would not be j postuble unlil supplies were more readilv 1 available. I. have oxplainod lattcrly ! that tlie dollar posilion has all'ected | lioth supplies aud tankeragc and has ; precluded sullicient supplies reaching ■ tlie Dominion to euable the abolition ot i petrol rationing. I'articularly strong j have been the representations of the i Motor Unions that tlie coupou aud j iiccjicing systems be abolished. IMuch j as 1 have desircd to see the cud ot i petrol rationing, ii has been my unpleas . anl duty to inaintaiu the rationing sys1 tem in view of the supply position. The j point, however, is now reached whcre, , with a furlher iacrease in our supplies, j the Coverumcut after coasideration aua | consultatioii with the United Kingdoin i aut liorities, has decided to relieve the j motoring public and all those associaled i with petrol rationing, of coupou aius licenee rationing, for the repcal of which coutiiuious vigorous representations have been niade by ollicial representatives of the motorists. Alr. Batt.,

revealing his opinion of liis fellow motorists, hurries into print aud tallcs of greedy eonsumers making a strong rush on the available supplies and conjures up a nightmare of a very large section of eonsumers having to go witli- ! out supplies. This is the type of talk which is inosl likely to ereato the very j thing which Mr. Batt professes to be j alarmed about." The Minister said it was true our supplies were still limited btu the limit j was at a iigure which should suffiee to j ensure that tlie noFinal winter deYnand j would be within it. The monthly limit : which had now been set was something : more than the average montlily conjsumption duriug the winter and spring | months of pre-war .1939. The number | of liccnced motor vehieles was approxi- | mately 3000 fcwer at present than in I tlie middle of 1939. "Having regard to the tvre position aud to tlie not inconsiderable stoeks of petrol hoardcd throughout the Dominion, only sueli fears eonsecpient on i pauic buying as could be engendered j by irresponsiblc statements like Mr. I Batt 's, aud the leading articles of this morning's New Zealand Herald and Dominion, would negative the action now decided upon by the Government," said Mr. Sullivan. "Motorists have loudly clamoured for the abolition of coupou and licenee rationing ever since the eud of the war. If they play the ganie by their fellow motorists as I. liaye assumed, they should lind they have the petrol they require • for ail reasonable runuing during the next iuoiith and such further months as the overall rationing sys'tcm may be necessary. "The question of a black market hus been raised and headlined. If anything tends to create a black market aud traflicking in supplies availablo under licenee, it is the system of rationing whicli we liave perforce had to operute during the past six and a ha 11 years. lu its usual biased way, the Dominion iufers that the New Zealand inotorist has been the most karshly trealcd in the British Empire, stating that the increase now available will go sonie way towards giving the New Zea"land inotorist a ratiou more in keeping with lliat en.joyed by other British eountries during and immediately after the war. This is blatantly inisleading xpd untrue. From July, 19-12, to VE Day jn-1915, tlie Britisli privatc inotorist was alJowed no petrol whatever. After having had tlie distasteful job oi' rationing petrol for ovcr six years, I have donc my utmost to obtain sullicient supplies of petrol to enable us to get baek to tlie prewar system aud in spite of the foreboding of tlie Dominion aud Herald and Alr. Batt, I feel tlie wkole motoring public of New Zealand will welcome the ehange and will give the new system a fair and reasonable trial, especially as there will be an additioiral 800,000 gallons monthly available to meet their needs. I uni not infallible and ani as prone to make mistakes as any olher liuman being, but to mc it does not seem to make sense to suggesfc that all the paraphernalia of individual rationing is iieeessary with such supplies as are now available. "