MINISTER EXPLAINS FINANCE BILL

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1946, Page 2

MINISTER EXPLAINS FINANCE BILL

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 19. Discussion of the Finance Bill, with its 42 clauses dealing with a variety of matters, occupied the House of Representatives this afternoon. The Minister of Finance . (Mr. Nash), moving the second reading of the Bill, said that to August 31 goods New 1 Zealand had supplied to UNRRA, or was committed to supply, were of a total value of £4,166,723, which meant that our first contribution and a large part of our second contribution to UNRRA’s funds which the Bill would authorise had already been expended in New Zealand. Governor-General and Judges. Referring to the clause which provided for an increase in the Gov-ernor-General’s allowances from £2OOO to £4500, Mr. Nash said that the present sum was fixed, in 1920, and that legislation also limited payments in connection with gardeners and the upkeep of the grounds to £5OO. The grounds 1 were costing £l2OO a year to-day, and the present Bill omitted the limitation to £5OO. If New Zealand was to have a Governor-General, said Mr. Nash, it should be prepared to meet the cost of the allowances. . Mr: V/. S. Goosman (Oppn., Waikato): The last Governor-General must have had a pretty bad time. Mr. Nash: He probably did. The Minister added that special allowances were made where possible. Discussing the clause relating to the increase in the salary of the Chief Justice to £2500 and that of other Judges to £2250, Mr. Nash said that if his information was corerct they were the lowest-paid Judges in the British Empire. . Mr. F. Langstone (Govt., Wai-’ marine): They are not doing badly. Mr. Nash said there was provision in the Bill for the Reserve Bank to grant overdrafts to the Government. Previously when the Government nought an advance from the Reserve Bank, it gave as security Treasury bills. My. Langstone: Bits of paper. Overdraft Account. Mr. Nash said that the Government would now have an overdraft account on a day-to-day basis at a rate of interest which he thought would be 1 per cent. The Government could be granted an overdraft of UP to 100 per cent, of what it required, but the overdraft would be limited to the amount of investments held by the Treasury. Mr. Nash, replying to the debate, said the Government would hold its securities and borrow money by way of overdraft from the Reserve BonkMr. G. H. Mackley (Oppn., Masterton): The Government borrows against its own security. Mr. Nash: We can get the same result by selling securities . for the amount of money we require. Mr. C. M. Bowden (Oppn., Wellington West): But that would be a different result. Mr. Nash: Very different. compulsory”levies on UNIONISTS (PA.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 19. In the House of Representatives today Mr. A. Sutherland (Opposition, Hauraki) gave notice to ask the Minister of Labour, Mr. O’Brien, il the Government would consider giving protection to union members who were being compelled to pay levies loi the support of a political parly to which they were opposed, especially in cases where members were in arrears with income tax payments. Mr. J. Thorn (Government, Thames): They were not paying income tax before we got in. Mr. Sutherland, in a note to his question, said it was recently reported that waterfront workers in Wellington were being compelled to pay a political levy of £1 a member, whether they supported the Labour Party or not. It was also reported that hundreds of members were unable to pay their income tax. Mr. Clyde Carr (Government, Timqru): Ballyhoo. NEW TYPESOT HIGHWAYS PROPOSED The provision of' “divided highways” on which motor vehicles would be segregated from other forms of traffic has become a matter of necessity in the interests of safety and economic transport, and, to this end, motorways are now being surveyed and designed in localities where the demand is most urgent, said the Minister of Works (Mr. Semple) in the annual Public Works Statement ( tabled in the House of Representatives. Mr. Semple said that when the war broke out, studies were being macle of the problems of route designs near urban areas where conditions were becoming serious because of congestion and the wide variety of traffic involved. It was recognised that consideration would have to be given to some adaptation of the ‘ divided highway” system used overseas. Where traffic densities were not even as great as on the more important national roads, there must be a segregation of motor vehicles Irorn other forms of traffic. While the allpurpose roads would remain for access to property and for pedestrians, cyclists, stock, and local motor traffic, there should, in some cases, be motorways solely for the use oi motor vehicles. These would by-pass towns and traverse thp country like railways, with no ribbon development and no access, except at pio-perly-designed junction stations. Mr. Semple said that as far as t e main highways generally were concerned, extra graders and othei machinery had recently become available. It was hoped that, by the end of the coming paving season, there would be a considerable improvement in highway f 3 y rface ?; Much would remain to be done to restore the highways to standards. Road construction during the last year was on a very moderate scale.” --————