PARLIAMENT

Lake County Mail, Issue 15, 3 September 1947, Page 4

PARLIAMENT

Lake Charges

A request for a review of fares and freight charges on the Lake Wakatipu steamers, with a view to adjusting existing' anomalies, was made in the House of Representatives by Mr T. L. Macdonald (National, Wallace). He said residents at lakeside stations beyond Queenstown were required to pay 7s 7d for a single journey from Queenstown, whereas tourists were carried to the head of the lake and back for 6s lid. Replying, the Minister of Railways (Mr Semple) said the regular steamer service which the department was required to maintain on Lake Wakatipu served a sparsely-populated area, and it was chiefly on that account that the service was operated at a heavy annual loss. Under the conditions existing, it was regretted that a reduction in the established ordinary fares could not be favourably entertained. It was correct that a cheap fare was authorised for day trips from Queenstown to the head of the lake during the holiday periods. This fare had assisted the financial position of the service by inducing massed patronage of the steamers, and the resultant ve-

turn had been an important factor in maintaining the revenue at its present level. Discussing the reply, Mr Macdonald said the people in the Lake Wakatipu area, although few in number, considered that there were very real anomalies in the fares charged on the lake steamers, on which they depended for their contact with the outside world. Residents were called upon to pay 15s 2d as the fare to Queenstown and back, whereas tourists were carried to the head of the lake and back for (is lid. That was a source of irritation to residents. Probably the real solution of the problem would be the construction of a road along the side of the lake from Queenstown to Glenorchy. That had been asked for on several occasions, but there was always some official excuse that it was too expensive or some other reason. There, were about 250 people dependent entirely on the service provided by the lake steamers. The Minister should decide either to carry on with the construction of that important road and thus reduce their isolation, or else have another look at the question of the fares and freights on the lake steamers, to remove some of the irritations to which those people were subjected. Was it the Government’s intention to introduce legislation in line with that announced in Australia, namely, to nationalise the trading banks? was another question Mr Macdonald asked. The Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) replied that, having purchased the shares of the Bank of New Zealand, and having in mind the control exercised by the Government over the banking system generally through the Stateowned Reserve Bank of New Zealand, it was not proposed to proceed further along those lines under existing circumstances. In the reply there was a familiar ring, commented Mr Macdonald. It was possible that pressure from the Left Wing of the party —and some of its