TWO COMMENTS ON BUDGET TOUCH ON BUILDING, CARS

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 46, 15 June 1965, Page 12

TWO COMMENTS ON BUDGET TOUCH ON BUILDING, CARS

Taupo comments on last week's Budget covered two points, the building controls and the new policy on no-remittance cars.

In the first, the Mayor, Mr J. E. Story, commented on the decision to give MoW control over the construction of all building projects costing more than £30,000. Mr Story said he was against any restriction on building, particularly in the smaller centres. A great deal of thought went into building projects before any contracts were let and people were much more cautious in small towns. ' \

Taupo could be adversely affected by the two-year restriction. More accommodation for tourists was required in Taupo and this would be accentuated by the arrival of jet services into Auckland, he said. The general manager of the Tourist and Publicity Department, Mr R. S. Odell, and the NAC had already drawn attention to the need. Speaking generally on the Budget, Mr Story said :here was a need to be real-

istic about reducing taxation if the present rate of development in New Zealand was to be maintained. "Much has recently heen said about increasing costs of projects already under construction. "The Ministry of Works, is in the main, the construction concern and the engagement of staff should be in the hands of the Commissioner of Works and not with the Public Service Commission," he said. "I am convinced that if the department's engineers were given a freer hand, they would save the country hundreds of thousands of pounds. "At the present time, the initiative of the department's engineers is stifled by having to go to the commission . on the matter of engaging qualified staff. "Time and big sums of money could be saved by giving the Commissioner of Works a freer hand. "Both Government and Opposition are equally guilty as both condone the present procedure," Mr Story said. The Government's decis-

ion to stop gifts of overseas funds being used in the no - remittance import scheme was generally not resented in the trade. A dealer holding a franchise for one of the more popular makes said he had been anticipating the Government move to terminate the gift no-remitance system and the bringing forward of the qualifying date from 1958 to December 31, 1964. He said that if the system had been abused in the past, it was probably abused by the public rather than the dealers. "No doubt a lot of people have invested in shares and securities in the 'hope that this qualifying date would come forward. However, we must remember the bonus scheme, which brought a great many additional cars into the country, has long been abolished and already sorn& of these cars will need replacing. "So we have the position of the abolition of the gift scheme, which has certainly contributed to many additional cars. The bringing forward of the date will certainly bring in a large volume, but this will be offset by having no bonus scheme

and also an increasing demand for new cars. "The question to be answered is, 'how many of the increased number of shareholders between 1958-64 will be prepared to utilise their funds for new cars," he said. His guess is that the immediate outlook is fdr increased new-car volume, but tapering off reasonably soon with resulting increase in demand for used cars. The immediate used car market would not be affected and prices could even rise, particularly on near-new models of popular makes.