MONEY FOR HIGHWAYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 744, 17 August 1929, Page 9

MONEY FOR HIGHWAYS

STATE’S HOLD-UP OF FUNDS

EX-MINISTER’S QUESTIONS

(The SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter . PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Friday. A question as to why the State's annual contribution of £35,000 from the Consolidated Fund toward the Main Highways was not included in the Estimates was asked by the ex-Minister of Public Works, the Hon. K. S. Williams, in his Budget speech this afternoon.

Would the Prime Minister inform the House as to how he .was able to exclude the amount without making an alteration to the original Main Highways Act, which prescribed that that sum was each year to be transferred from the Consolidated Fund to the Revenue Fund of the Main Highways Board, asked Mr. Williams. The amount had not been provided notwithstanding the fact that the Act definitely stated that it was to be provided. If it were not thought necessary to provide it an amendment of the Act would have been necessary before the credit could have been discontinued. Mr. Williams also asked the Prime Minister to indicate what his proposals were regarding the £200,000 and interest.

Answering an interjector, Mr. Williams said that the petrol tax was allocated in the first place with the idea of improving main roads leading to cities in order to provide pleasure trips tor city dwellers, and to bring business into the cities and to enable the Highways Board to take over more roads. These additional roads were called secondary roads. That was the direction in which the board should function when it had plenty of funds. He asked the Prime Minister to tell the House what the Government proposed to do with the Highways’ funds because the proposal was rather vague and looked like an attack on the money received from motorists on one hand and on that received by ratepayers on the other.