FEATURES OF STATEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 28, 1 August 1924, Page 7

FEATURES OF STATEMENT

(Received Ist August, 11.30 a.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. Features of the Budget Statement are: The tax payable by persons with incomes abovo £1200 a year will be re-; duced by 10 per cent. Profits derived from gold mining will be exempt from lax. The revenue derived1 from income tax in the past year amounted to £11,057,----555. The payments of old age and invalid pensions amounted to £6,523,881, and were.made to 155,671 people. The maternity allowances show a falling off of £3652,' which indicates a re-' auction of the birth rate. Interest charges total £19,963,818. The reduction of the postage rates, which took effect on Ist.October, resulted in a loss of £800,000. -The Federal Government intends to abandon permanently the taxation of in Tasmania> which yielded ±,lll,Uoo a year, but the Tasmanian Government will reimpose this taxation J.ne defence policy is to be established on a solid basis. The modest programme of development upon which the Ministry has decided will require an additional million this year, towards the construction of two modern 10,000-ton cruisers. ■ .. . . ... toFfh rth|f f nconra.6<anent Wai'be offered to Mie btates to induce a laro-e flow of immigrants up to a total of 50 000 a year. ■ ■ . • ■■■ •. . A sum,of £5000 is placed on the Estimates to commence research into the • cause of cancer. be^Wd" taX"free Federall-- are to The gross debt of Australia per head of the population is £158.