LYONS GOVERNMENT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 79, 15 March 1934, Page 6

LYONS GOVERNMENT

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES Speech by Dr. Earle Page PRIME MINISTER’S REPLY (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received 15, 11.45 a.m.) SYDNEY. March 15 “Lyons Government will go down In history as the Government of missed opportunities,” declared Dr. Earle Page, Leader of tho Country Party, speaking at the annual conference of the Australian Country Party in Victoria. He added that the Government had maintained the Scullin tariffs practically intact, refused to remove the primage as recommended by the Tariff Board, failed to give adequate taxation relief, grossly underestimated its revenue, missed a fine opportunity of substantially reducing unemployment, failed to rehabilitate primary indugtries by some kind of comprehensive plan, and had missed a wonderful opportunity of removing old-age and invalid pensions from the realm of party politics. The Prime Minister, Mr. Lyons, giving the other side of the picture at Goulburn, claimed that the Government, in regard to its tariff policy, was merely carrying out the Ottawa Agreement, giving preference to Britain, thereby conferring great benefits on Australia’s own primary producers, with the result that Australia to-day, according to Board of Trade figures, was the world’s second greatest supplier to the British. Mr. Lyons said he wondered whether the Government’s critics, when they were clamouring for reduced tariffs, realised how inter-dependent were the primary and secondary industries of this country. The Government had taken no more taxation than wus absolutely necessary for effective government of the country, while Judging from the cheery optimism of the people it was evident tho Government had faithfully done the job it eet out ie do.