Delay Budget, Labour says

Press, 27 May 1981, Page 2

Delay Budget, Labour says

PA Wellington The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling)- yesterday called on the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) to delay the Budget for a month, if necessary, “so that he gets some idea of where he is going." Mr Rowling said a strong Budget was overdue and the economy was drifting badly.

"It would be far better to wait and make at least a reasonable attempt at getting the thing right.” he said.

Dissension between the Government and its advisers and within the Government's own ranks was obvious, said Mr Rowling.

Mr Muldoon has not yet announced a date for the

Budget, but he said on Monday he expected to present it about mid-Julv.

Mr Rowling said the Government had already made a big mistake in failing to negotiate with unions and employers on incomes much earlier in the Budget formulation. The Government was also making an equally serious error in failing to foreshadow a tough, antiinflationary package. If the Government continued to ignore the impact of largely Government-led inflation and the potential for real taxation reform, said Mr Rowling, the Budget would be another in a long line of “timid, confused, and futile economic gestures."