Mr Bolger visits Waimarino Bulletin

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 6, 10 July 1984, Page 6

Mr Bolger visits Waimarino Bulletin

Mr Jim Bolger came into the Waimarino Bulletin office in Ohakune last week to introduce himself and see our operation. While here, we asked him a couple of questions. One is certainly topical and relevant in view of the faet that many of Ohakune's businesses are orientated towards the ski seastm and to date there has been no snow. The first question was: "The Manager of Mt Hutt skifield ha§ expressed concern at the amount of money being lost not only by the skifields themselves, but by' the Gountry as a whole in terms of the tourist dollar, because of the late start to the ski season. Does the Government see any possibility of helping skifield

operators who have made huge capital investments in equipment and staffing over the lean seasons to ensure a viable winter tourist industry just as they have the farming industry?" Mr Bolger replied that so far there had been no need _ for a subsidy scheme for ski operators similar to the SMP scheme for farmers but he was sure that if the ski industry as a whole got together and submitted a well researched and documented proposal to the government it would be looked at. The second question we asked Mr Bolger was: "What is your reaction to the Prime Minister's claim that the Leader of the Opposition, a qualified

lawyer, "has.a reading level of a 2Vi year old because he, the Prime Minister, has a 3year old grandson who can also read his own name?" What sort of reaction does the National Party expect to get from (a) the voting public in the King Country Electorate and (b) the N.Z. Law Society about one of their members, to such a comment?" Mr Bolger replied that

such remarks are all part of the 'cut and thrust' of electioneering and that he understood the PM was referring to Mr Lange's reading level of economics. "Such remarks are made by both sides ... take Mr Laiige's remark that Mr Muldoon should have a drink of Horlicks every night to stop hallucinating," said Mr Bolger.