MANY QUESTIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1938, Page 6

MANY QUESTIONS

INFORMATION SOUGHT

MR. COATES'S SPEECH

After expressing the opinion that the State should make provision for the aged and infirm, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates (National, Kaipara) declared that it was the duty of Parliament to see that any scheme was on a sure foundation. The Minister of Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone): The foundation is New Zealand. '...:.'.■ Why was it that the Bill would not become law until April 1 next? Mr. Coates asked. Was it the intention of the... Government to modify the scheme if returned? Or,- if ousted —- The Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash): Why not talk possibilities? If the present Government were ousted, said Mr. Coates, and another came into power, the present Government members would say to the people, "There you are; you didn't return us and this other Government has had to modify the scheme." Was the scheme not being made a. stalking horse? was Mr. Coates's next question. Was the Government considering the value of the Bill to the people or to the Government at the elections? ' ■, Continuing his questions, Mr. Coates asked if it was sound for the Minister of Finance to be concerned with the finances of. the scheme for the first year only? . : Mr. Nash: I said we would budget for one year at a time. Mr. Coates: That's all right, then. I don't think I am far outMr. Nafeh: Have you ever budgeted for more than one' year? AN ANNUAL FOOTBALL. Was the scheme to become an annual football? Mr. Coates asked. What was wanted was a scheme from which the contributors could be certain of benefits. Had the Minister of Finance had a report from the Treasury on the scheme? If so, the House was entitled to know what that report was. Had the Government had the advice of its public servants on the proposals? What did the Finance Department think of them? What did that Department think of the probable effect of the taxation? Mr. Goates next asked whether the Bill before the House was the original Bill prepared by the Minister of Finance or whether it had been amended at the request of the caucus. Mr. Nash: It is the only Bill that has been prepared. The Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong): Do you hold caucus meetings for nothing? '[ Mr. Coates said the Minister might have gone to caucus with a memorandum that was probably altered. The Minister of Health (the Hon. P. Fraser): What happened in caucus when the Leader of the Opposition was elected? '- ' Mr. Coates said that, if the Minister would tell the House what had hapr pened to the Bill in caucus he would give the exact division when the Leader of the Opposition was elected. Mr Armstrong: We have got it already. . . THE NATIONAL INCOME. Mr. Coates proceeded to discuss the ] financial aspects of the Bill on lines adopted by previous Opposition speakers, and deduced that the tax would be over 2s in the £. It was true 'that portion of the money was. to come from the Consolidated Fund, he said, but nevertheless the additional sum would have to be found either by direct or indirect taxation. He asked why the Minister of' Finance had assessed the national income at £174,000,000 when the British actuary, , Mr. Maddex, had- given it at