POLITICAL OUTLOOK

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 41, 27 May 1965, Page 10

POLITICAL OUTLOOK

A taxation rebate is beiiig strongly hinted as oue of the mere pleasant Budget siirprises. Sonie strength has been added to this by the decision of the National Roads Board to decline the aiinual £1 niillioii it receives from the Coiisolidated Fnnd, and to proceed on the principle of "Let the user pay." The Prime Minister, Mr ! Holyoake, has confirmed that the money returned (on rather rejected) by the National Roads Board will not be earmarked for any speclal purpose. The Minister of Finance, Mr Lake, has indicated, and the Prime Minister has I endorsed, Government intentions to rely on borrowing for at least soine of its needs: Informed opinion is that, though £1 million would not give the average taxpayer much of a rebate, at least it is a straw pointing in the "righU direction. This, in itself, is unusual at this season of the Biidget year. Many instances of inflation or possible inflation have been indicated by the

Government's financial and economic advisers — but Cabinet does not seem unduly ' worried. The buoyancy of revenue has engendered a feeling of optimism. It would not be surprising if the Budget offers con-i cessions of up to £10 — some benefitting a speciflc group such as the farmers; another possibly in the form of a rebate to a specific date. If this produced some taxation refunds next year, a few months before the General Election, it would do the Government no harm. * ♦ ♦ It seeins that, no matter what some groups have to say about it, Sir Basil Spence's "Beehive" has woii its battle. This unusual building has had its supporters from the original unveiling — but many of them sat quietly and said nothing. Now, though the decision is still technically "in the air," this group is expressing its approval. New , Zealand architects who offered their alternatives earlier this year appear to have been outgen-

eralled. It is at last being accepted that the unfinished "Marble Building" which houses our Parliamentary chamber has a life of perhaps 15 years left. This means that any design based on it was doomed from the star — and also that the "Beehive," once completed, may have to spend some time as a freestanding symbol of something or other, while the present Parliament Building is demolished and rebuilt. If this is done — as must happen eventually — Sir Basil Spence's desigii may then be linked with a modern block which will at once be safer, more efficient, and possibly even better looking than the one which has remained half-coni-pleted for the past 50 years. It was Sir Basil Spence himself who said, in previous talks about requirements, that the site was a magnificent one, but that it could best be utilised by an asymmetric block. The Government Architect, Mr F. G. F. Sheppard, in his conve-rsations with Sir feasil, may already have seen sketches of the completed building, of which "The Beehive" is only a part. ^ ^ Demand for a fullyrepresentative and siimably impartiai authority to eliminate the pcaks and depressions from the buiMing indiistry is becoming even more vocal. At the Labour Party conference, a former Minister of Housing, Mr. W. A. Fox, went on record as saying he would support such an authority, and that he would see it was established when Labour returned to power. It was when Mr Fox was Minister that the National Housing Council had its last meeting. For the past five years it has been in recess, though its, work in establishing housing projections over a 10-year period is generally recognised. The odd thing is that it was started by a National Government in 1953. Why is it out of favour with the National Government now? ^ A former Minister of AVorks, Mr H. AVatt, "tossed a grenade" at the Jjabour Party conference last week when he asked why it was that overseas consultants for power schemes employed at high costs, Avere so far astray in their estimates. He instanced the case of Bechtels, consultants for the Manapouri project, and the way in which estimates made by this company for the project had tended to be wide of the mark. Mr Watt suggested that the employment of overseas consultants were costing the country dearly — and that New Zealand consiilt- ! ants could hardly be more astray. sjc jj; 5!; Unless the Prime Minister announoes before tomorrow the GovernmeiiPs decision for the despatch, or otherwise, of combat troops to Soiith A'^ietnam he will leave the Avay open for the Leadei* of the Opposition, Mr Nordmeyer, to initiate a debate that day — the first | "working" one of the | session, on this topic. This would suit the Op- 1 position admirably because | it is their contention that ! no decision should be{

reached without Parliament being given the full facts of the situation and the opportunity for debate. At the same time such a debate would place upon the Opposition the responsibility of unequivocally stating whether or not it opposes any combat assistance, however ' token, to New Zealand's principal ally, the United States. Although the Prime Minister has refused to say whether or not a request for combat aid has been received from the South Vietnamese Government there is little doubt in official circles that this is the case. There is much speculation that Mr Holyoake is only awaiting what he considers "the right moment" to make an announcement of the Government's intention to send troops. Betting in the capital still favours units of the 16th Field Regiment being despatched although an engineering squadron is still given an outside chance.

— N.Z.C.N.A.

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