SURPLUS SHOWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 208, 2 September 1932, Page 7

SURPLUS SHOWN.

THE LYONS BUDGET. ' . ___ SPLENDID RECOVERY. No New Taxation But Heavy Economies Proposed. SAVING NEARLY £3,000,000. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Received 0.30 a.m.) CANBERRA, this day. In the House of Kepresentatives the Prime Minister and Treasurer, Mr. J. A. Lyons, delivered the Budget. He said the year 193132 had closed with a surplus of £1,314,091. The revenue had amounted to £58,648,528, and the expenditure to £57,334,437. Mr. Lyons announced that there would be no new taxation, but the following economies would be effected: — Ministers' salaries would be reduced 30 per cent; members' honoraria, 25 per cent* Federal public servants, £8 a year, on account of the fall in the cost of living. Old ard invalid pensions, f&r the same reason, would be reduced 2/0 a week. The maximum payable in future to pensioners would be 15/ a week. The maternity bonus, now £4, was to be restricted to families where the income does not exceed £208 a year, instead of, as now, £2GO a year. This would save at least £00,000 annually. Mr. Lyons said it was also expected to save £1,100,000 a year on pensions, £5000 oil Ministerial and Parliamentary salaries, £240,000 on public service salaries, £44,000 by the reduction of the wine bounty, and £30,000 by suspending the gold bounty until the price of gold falls to £5 an ounce, making a total saving of £1,479,000. Expenditure next year would bo brought down by and a surplus of £12,000 was anticipated. However, this would be turned into a deficit of £4,900,000 if Australia had -to resume her interest payments on the British war debt this year. Tariff Reductions and Sales Tax. Mr. Lyons said tariff reductions would be made during the year and the sales tax would be lifted off certain goods, largely with the idea of giving relief to primary producers. Naval, military and , Air Force activities would be continued 1 along the usual lines. !

A committee would report upon air mail contracts, existing and contemplated. . The. Prime Minister went on to say that it was expected that war pensions would be nearly £500,000 less in the current year. The estimate for war pensions was £6,950,000. Mr. Lyons expressed the opinion that the peak year had passed and said he expected- a steady decline in war pensions in future. He mentioned that old age and invalid pensions 20 years ago cost the country £2,000,000 a year, but last year the cost was more than £11,000,000. Referring to the effects of the depression upon trade and industry, and indirectly upon the public revenue, Mr. Lyons said that .in 1929 eight companies showed a loss, but by last year 83 had shown a loss. In 1929 the declared total profit of public companies was £16,775,000. In 1931 it was only £7,023,000. The Prime Minister emphasised the wonderful recovery disclosed in the finances. He appealed, to members and to the citizens to realise "the nature of the abyss" from which we have been saved." The deficits of the Australian Governments for 1931-32 had been cut- down from the contemplated £40,000,000 to £20,147,000, of which £13,570,000 represented the New South Wales deficit, thanks to the Lang Administration which had declined to adhere to the Premiers' Plan.