HEAVY INCREASE IN VOTE FOR DEFENCE SERVICES

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 261, 2 August 1939, Page 11

HEAVY INCREASE IN VOTE FOR DEFENCE SERVICES

Estimates Of State Expenditure PROVISION OF NEARLY 53,000,000 FOR EMPLOYMENT PROMOTION Drop In Working Railways Account An increase of £1,115,169 for the defence services is. one of the most outstanding items in the estimates of the expenditure of the Government for the current financial year which were tabled with the Budget by the Acting-Minister of Finance, Mr. Savage, in the House of Representatives last night. Another outstanding vote is that of £1,754,625 for the Social Security Department. The Department of Labour’s expenditure last year was z134,758, and this year’s estimate is £2,720,000. The huge increase of £2,585,242 in this vote includes the provision of £2,500,000 for employment promotion. As there is no employment fund money available now provision has to be made in' the Consolidated Fund for this purpose. In addition, £400,000 is provided for employment promotion under the Native Affairs Department vote. Provision is made in the Social Security vote to transfer from the Consolidated Fund the sum of £2,000,000 to the Social Security Fund to meet any deficit in that fund. A number of increases are provided for in the departmental estimates for the year, but several departments show ' decreased votes. The most notable of these is the working railways account, which shows a reduction of £647,402 on last year.

The combined vote for social services is £10,613,467, a decrease of £2,300,000 on last year’s expenditure. Both the health and education votes, however, are higher. The education vote increase includes £200,000 for improvement to school grounds.