RESERVE BANK BILL

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 15, 12 October 1933, Page 8

RESERVE BANK BILL

No Effect on Prices

MR. MASTERS’ ASSURANCE

In reply to a question by the Hon. R. McCallum, who had asked for an assurance that prices this season would not be affected by the introduction of the. Reserve Bank Bill, the Hon. R. Masters, in the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon, on behalf of the Government, said that if the Bill went -through this session, and there was no doubt it would, it would be impossible to bring it into operation for six months. The -.nswer to the question lay in that fact. Mr. McCallum also asked whether the Government had considered following the example of Australia in reducing taxation, to which Mr. Masters replied that when one made a comparison between the taxation of the two countries, one would find that even with the reductions that had been made in Australia, taxation in New Zealand was still below that in Australia. Mr. Masters explained that Australia had had a sales tax of 6 per cent., and that tax had been imposed for the past three years. In addition to the sales tax, there was also a primage duty of .0 per cent., which was considerably heavier than that imposed in this country. The Minister cited these two cases as examples; others could be taken if necessary. If the taxation imposed in Australia had been imposed in New Zealand, the Government would have been in a position to take it off this year. The point was that considerably heavier taxation had been imposed in Australia than had been the case in this country, with the result that the former country could afford to reduce it now.