SUPPLEMENT'Y ESTIMATES

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 December 1945, Page 6

SUPPLEMENT'Y ESTIMATES

H MILLIONS MORE GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES WELLINGTON, December 5. ■ A total vote of is provided for in supplementary estimates for the current, financial year, presented to the House of Representatives to-day. The vote for the ordinary revenue account of the Consolidated Fund amounts to £737.076; that for separate accounts to £689,556; and that for accounts outside the public account to £313,594. An additional amount of £1,035 is voted for conveying the New Zealand Minister, staff, and families to and from Washington on appointment and transfer. There was £50!) on the main estimates for this purpose. . In the vote for the Department of Internal Affairs there is an amount of £lO,OOO for grants and subsidies to organisations to foster physical welfare and recreation. A compassionate grant of £5OO is made to the widow of Mr. J. W. Munro, M.P. The expenses of the visit overseas by the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers) and Mr. C. C. Aikman in connection with the establishment of a permanent court of international justice is renresented by a vote of £1,050. There is a vote of £7,000 by way of subsidy towards the cost of the road transport of timber to maintain building activities in Auckland and the Waikato during the period of the coal shortage. In the Island Territories vote there is £BlB for the visit to New Zealand of the Samoan fautua. An additional £4,551 is voted for the Bluff-Stewart Island ferry service, which is to be run by the Marine Department. A credit of £ 133,400 in the Labour Department’s vote for the promotion of employment is transferred to the vote for the National Employment Service, for which there is a new vote of £215,378. There is a vote of £3OO for the expenses of the conference called by the Minister of Labour in connection with industrial unrest. FORESTRY AND COAL. A note to the vote for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research states that a fats research laboratory has been set up for theprimary purpose of investigating the composition of New Zealand butter in view of the serious competition expected from margarine on the English market. An additional £lBO,OOO is voted to the Social Security Fund for maternity hospital and pharmaceutical benefits, but it is stated that expenditure to date indicates that the provision made in the main estimates will be sufficient. There is an additional £lO,OOO in the vote for the State Forest Service account for the acquisition of land for forestry purposes. It is stated that this is for further purchases of land for the rehabilitation of former’ servicemen. There is also a vote of £87,500 for forests projects within the Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Westland, Canterbury, and Southland conservancies. There is a grant of £l,OOO to the Ngarimu V.C. and 28th (Maori) Battalion memorial scholarship fund. In the unauthorised expenditure account provision is made for a compassionate grant of £5OO to the widow of Brigadier James Hargest. M.P. There is an amount of £74,314 for the purchase of the Ohai, open cast colliery, the Wa Iraki colliery, and the Morley coal lease. In the statement of sums irrecoverable by the Crown there is shown a loss of cash amounting to £59,405 arising out of the Greek and Libyan campaigns. “STORM” GRANTS. Numerous items in the Supplementary Estimates are evidence of the effects of storms in the South Island this year. Direct grants have been made from the vote for the Department of Internal Affairs, which had an amount of £4OOO on the main Estimates! Another £2500 is provided to meet expenditure incurred through the Kaiapoi, Temuka, and Kaitangata floods. The electric supply account includes an item of £lB5 for ex gratia payments to employees at the Highbank power station for loss suffered through floods. In the State Forests account there- is £15,000 to meet the cost of plant and equipment for the salvage of windblown timber in Canterbury. Post and Telegraph working expenses include items of £32,500 for the maintenance of services, £5OOO for extra motor’ spirit, and £27,500 for overtime and meal allowances. These additional amounts are. required to meet expenses incurred as a result of the snowstorm in Canterbury. OTHER GRANTS An amount of £7500 is provided for the cost of obtaining a report on West Coast harbours. The report is to be- made after an inspection by two eminent English engineers. A small item of £54 is included to meet, the cost of sounding at Point Elizabeth, where it has been suggested there should be a harbour. Sums of £22,907 for the maintenance of Greymouth harbour equipment and £25,590 towards the cost of repairs to the Greymouth Harbour Board dredge are also in the Marine Department section. An additional £20.00 is provided for Land and Income Tax Department salaries. A note says this is for additional staff required for decentralisation. A vote of £15,000 to reimburse milk vendors for amounts paid to local authorities in milk levies is provided. A. footnote explains that as ‘the price of milk is stabilised, . and vendors’ margins fixed by the Minister of Marketing, it is necessary for the amount of the levies to be met by subsidy. A vote of £4710 was made in the main estimates for research at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, and an additional £2095 is now made available. A vote of £50,000 for transit housing is included. A footnote says this is needed to cover the cost of dismantling and transporting buildings from military camps to the nearest port or rail centre of the local authority concerned. ’The sum of £15,000 is provided for the cost of road access to Fly Creek mine. A footnote explains that this is a new area of the Stockton field.