THE FINANCE BILL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 38, 24 November 1937, Page 2

THE FINANCE BILL

HARDSHIPS OF LAND TAX. Lr DASRY INDUSTRY ACCOUNT. t'3 (Abridged from Press Association). WELLINGTON, November 23. In the House to-day, on the second _ reading of the Finance Bill, Mr W. J. 1 Broadfoot (National, Waitomo), criti- ! eised the Minister of Finance because ' he had not before this presented the returns for the final realisation on guaranteed butterfat prices and also made • public the price paid for Picot Brothers. The lit. Hon. G. W. Forbes (Na- ■’ fional, Hurnuni) said he would like i to see the amount allowed local bodies ' 1 r unauthorised expenditure increasl’ et ** r -Hie sum allowed at present was • too small and the Government was always passing validating legislation to provide for excesses o'f local body unauthorised expenditure. He asked the Government what was being done to recognise the services to aviation of Miss Jean Batten. Other countries had thought she was worthy of recognition and she was also worthy of it in the ■’ country of her birth. _ Mr Forbes drew attention to the fact that it had been promised that there should be an overhaul of\ the whole ~ land and income tax position in the Dominion and the hardship clause under the graduated land tax in the Bill showed that this was necessary. He thought that the present hardship clause would not satisfy very many. An aspect which had been overlooked, said Mr Forbes, was that a man might be able to pay his taxation only at the expense of the land lie farmed. The land may be robbed of fertilisers and necessary improvements neglected in order that the fanner could pay his taxes. Mi* Forbes added that he did not think a Minister of the Crown r should interfere with the confidential s affairs of anyone as lie would be forced to do under the hardship clause of the Bill, and it would place the Minister himself in a false position by act- . ing as arbiter. Sympathetic Administration. The Minister of Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone) referred to the boom in land values after the war consequent on the investment of huge sums"in the investment of discharged soldiers upon the land, and said that when the slump came much more damage could have been done but lor the understanding and sympathetic administration of the Lands Department. The total loss represented by the writing down of r land values was £26,820,000 and the i amount did not include the losses which would result from cases now under consideration. There) was the closest co-operation between the Lands Department and the Mortgage Corporation and anything his Department [ could do to safeguard securities in the . interests of -the Dominion would be done. He proceeded to deal witii the Government’s difficulties in dealing with the butter-box question and said the provision of the present saranac boxes meant a tremendous saving of timber and was an important factor in the conservation of the Dominion’s white pine supplies. He did not know of any other timber which was such a wonderful container for butter as white

pme. Mr S. G. Smith (National, New Plymouth), contended that the provisions 1 of tenancy imposed on tenants of State 3 houses should be much simpler than " they were at present. There were a 3 number of provisions in the Bill which ' the Minister might have made much • clearer than he did. He asked the Minister to outline the provision regarding the purchase of Picot Broth--3 ers. 7 An assurance that he would do sc > was given by Mr Nash. i Mr Smith reminded the Minister t that under the guaranteed price scheme 3 dairy farmers themselves were paying - more for their butter than previously. 3 The Itt. Hon. J. G. Coates (Nationl alist, Kaipara) said the Minister' of 3 Finance was continuing his policy of - confusing the issues so that the public > to-day had, no real indication of what • the Government’s financial policy was. j He classed as bad legislation the pretr vision setting up a commission coni’ taining the Commissioner of Taxes to j adjudicate o“n cases of hardship under i the graduated land tax. The Commission should have a personnel which | was quite impartial. He contended, _ referring to the clauses in the Bill rei lating to the taxation of dividends of mining companies, that no law passed ' should be retrospective. If any com’[pany such as the Waihi Goldmining ; Company, which had, been mentioned by Mr Nash, had broken the law then • the Courts should deal with the case. Guaranteed Price. i Mr Coates expressed doubt whether dairy farmers in view of the increasing costs, were any better off to-day than they were in 1925. If the Government wished to. be consistent it would guarantee the farmer ,a minimum price for butterfat. He asked the Minister if the dairy industry account for the year ended on July 31. If it ended on that date, did the Minister take into account only butter shipped up to that time or did a certain portion of it go into next year? He thought the Minister could have told them what the deficit in the dairy acoount was. The Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fraser) said that Mr Coates plainly had not understood the Government’s legislation regarding guaranteed prices which was at least constructive. What had Mr Coates offered the dairy farmers? he asked. He had offered them a minimum price, the amount of which lie had not mentioned and wished to abolish the guaranteed price. Mr Coates: It is not the guaranteed price, it is the fixed price. Mr Fraser continued that the Opposition was facing itself four square against guaranteed prices. It did not say what its minimum price would amount to or who would get it Perhaps it might be lOd per lb as had been suggested by the Member for Stratford. The effort of the Labour Government, said Mr Fraser, was. to give the farmer stability and security. Ail Opposition interjection : Would you give the wool farmer stability too? Mr Fraser: If the wool farmer wishes stability let- him come along to us and wo will talk about it.

Alleged Defence of Trickery. The most extraordinary part of Mr Coates’s speech, said Mr Fraser, was his defence of trickery by the Waihi Goldmining Company in tax evasion. He had practically said it was wrong

for the Government to try to track down taxation which had been evaded. He knew the right honourable gentleman did not himself believe in the ethics which he had advocated. They knew him over many years, and, knew him too well for that. He had practically said in effect that if they were tricky enough to get away from the law and they could not be caught by it, then good luck to them. Mr Coates’s policy regarding dairying was weak, involved, and was aimed at the overthrow of the guaranteed price and stability for farmers. The suggestion that the Government should give some assistance to Miss Jean Batten in reward for her latest record-breaking flight, was made by the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes (National, Hurunui). Mr Forbes recalled the statements of the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Sayage) at the State welcome to Miss Batten, that his Government would not he any less generous to her than the last. The last Government had given her £SOO for her flight from England to Australia. What was this Government going to do? Mr Forbes asked. “Miss Batten is looked on as one of the wonders of the age, and one of our greatest flyers,” Mr Forbes said. “Other countries think a great deal of her, and have done her honour. If she is worth it from them she is worth it from the land of her birth.” Perhaps some position might be offered to fter in the Dominion. Mr S. 4. Holland (National, Christchurch North) associated himself with tiie previous speaker that something might be done for Miss Batten. He asked if the Minister would consider making the provision for the hardship clause permanent. Mr Nash: All laws for land and income tax will be consolidated next year. Mr Holland: “Probably that will be the best time to do it.” He asked if the relief provisions would apply to the tax levied in 1935-36, Mr Nash replying that they would apply for the two years during which the tax was levied and would apply to 1935-36. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 10.30 p.jn.