BUDGET TARGET

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 168, 18 July 1941, Page 2

BUDGET TARGET

WHENCE SURPLUS?

PEOPLE'S POCKETS

"MORE THAN WAS REQUIRED"

(By Telegraph. Parliamentary Keporter.) WKLIJXOTOX. this day. Opening the Budget debate in the House of Representatives last night, the Loader of the Opposition, Mr. Holland, said the Government claimed great credit for its favourable balance at the end of the financial year, but there was nothing wonderful about taking more out of the people's pockets than was required or was spent. That was how the credit balance was produced.

The Opposition, he said, had some cause for satisfaction in the fact that the Government realised that the limit of taxation had been reached and that any further increase would defeat the end aimed at.

Mr. Holland said he was positive that the overwhelming majority of the people were agreed that party politics should he dropped for the duration ol the war. He referred to efforts made by the Opposition for the formation of a lion-partv Government, hut all proposals had been rejected. The War Cabinet, in which the Opposition had two representatives. had limited powers. Many matters of vital importance, such as the raising of war funds, the organisation for the Home Guard and the preparation of many of the war regulations had not been considered the responsibility of the War Cabinet.

Mr. Holland repeated his previous offer lo the (government to perform any duty assigned to him without Ministerial rank and without any of the emoluments of office, and, referring to the invitation to him to join the War Cabinet, suggested that the Government was more intent upon tying his hands and sealing his lips than it was in securing his service.; in any capacity connected with tile

War Debt and Borrowing Dealing with Mr. Nash's statement that upwards of C1i.000.000 of New Zealand's war debt obligations to Croat Britain had been repaid. Mr. Holland said that the Minister might have completed the picture by saving that for every one pound lie paid off in Croat Britain he borrowed i'l 5/ in New Zealand. There was no enthusiasm from the Government benches when the Minister showed that the national debt would be increased by i' 57.000.000 this year, in addition to an increase last "year of C2ti.000.000. That made a total of £83.000.000 in the two years. Everv taxpayer realised that* greatly increased burdens must bo carried, but they wanted to know that the increased taxation was going towards the cost of the war. Such was not the case.

Comparing the 1010 and 1011 figures. Mr. Holland said that income tax had increased bv £(>.5:51.000, of which only .CI.OSu.OOO was for the war. In other words, in every pound of increased income tax, 3/4' was for war purposes and Ifi/X for domestic purposes. Similarly the beer duty figures showed increased revenue to the extent of £338,000, of which only 1115,000 went towards war expenses, so that for everv 20/ increase in the beer tax only 6/9 went towards the war and 13/3 for domestic purposes. Mr. Holland emphasised the supreme importance of the maintenance of production because of its effect on the standard of living. Since the Government had boon in power the volume of production had steadily declined per head of population and this decline must be arrested. Wo had no right to expect, a higher standard of living than that which we produced.

"Something For Nothing"

Criticising the idea of "something for nothing." Mr. Holland said that there had been examples of that in a speech made by Mr. Nash in the Waitemata by-election campaign when he referred to free medicine for everyone, and in a speech by the Minister of Railways, Mr. Semple. in Australia, when ho said that no one in Now Zealand had paid hospital bills since the Labour Government came into power. That was the kind of mischievous and insidious doctrine that had gulled the people for years, but now the people were awakening to the truth of the old adage that one could not get a quart out of a pint pot. Teoplo could not. take from the social security fund unless it had first been put into the fund by the people themselves.

Mr. Holland criticised at. some length Government control of indusdry, claiming that in practically every case where it had been imposed it had been a failure. He advocated a greater diversity of farming production, and said the country should have a full range of highly qualified technical experts to advise the Government in industrial diversification. It was common knowledge that there was no scope for eminent young scientists in New Zealand and that should be put right immediately. The same thing applied to the manufacturing industries.

Continuing. Mr. Holland advocated the development of a light metal industry to give the country the basis of an industrial revolution, and expressed the opinion that attention should be given to the production of aluminium for which he had been advised there were unlimited resources available in this country.