A Muddled Ta

What Canberra Has Done To P-NG's Liquor

P. MORESBY, March j r[E new tax on liquor impoa by licensed hotels, std restaurants and clubs wase most controversial piece of legs tion discussed at the recent mee 1 of the Papua-New Guinea Legs tive Council.

It was the Council’s shoe meeting—opening February 25 ( ending February 27—and notable mostly for the fact many members, official and : official, were absent, v The Administration’s new LL.

Ordinance had already been paji and therefore proceedings into a battle of wits whereby : official members endeavoured) secure adjournments, during w they aired public displeasure ati new tax. r;E new tax is the latest b:c child of the P-NG who, egged on by Cantf apparently sits up at nn thinking of new methodss extracting an extra few shili from the Territory’s so-o “tax-free” residents.

Extra taxes on liquor are' course, traditional and usj accepted, but this particular tt so full of anomalies and inequsj that even the anti-liquor se; of the community sees justice in it.

It is a tax of 5 per cenr the purchase of licensed victusx In its original conception, . would probably not be very sei£ but under the system of I distribution in the will be a snowballing tax which the Treasury can gathri much as 20 per cent, tax in j cases.

Hypothetical cases are quoted, in which an importer! the first five per cent, on purchased; he sells it to agent, who also has to pay cent, on his purchase; wH turn sells it to a club, which r also pay the tax—4 per ceie this case (as an act of grar As profit is added to the a purchase price plus tax by \ party as he buys the liquo:c re-sells it, the final rake-off < Treasury can be something ss 20 per cent. r[E only people who stae benefit by the legislatioo those private citizens ? import their own liquor direct not being licensed vendors, o have to pay tax; and the bru which also is not licensed as a? —and is therefore not subj[( this tax either—althoughri

very can and does sell direct he public in bulk lots. is most unlikely that the isurer, when he designed this was concerned about benefiting ir the brewery or the private ridual; it has just turned out way. Of itself this piece of . luck is probably a good thing ; fosters local industry, but the e piece of legislation is, like much Territory legislation, aletely bad at law. large part of the time at Legco lings is always taken up with ass of amendments to previous lation —legislation, more often not, that was hotly debated inofficial members at the time is originally before the Council, e person or persons responsible the legal draftsmanship of itory laws is known only to and to Canberra. The general c and the unofficial members Bgco, whose time is wasted by iquent tinkering, are left to ine that the junior office boy a lot to do with it.