PARLIAMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 268, 12 October 1932, Page 4

PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. QUIET DEBATE ON THE BUDGET. For Press Association. WELLINGTON, Oct. 11. Resuming the Budget debate in the House of Representatives this afternoon, Mr A. E. Ansell referred to the recent criticisms of Parliament and said members might perhaps ask themselves whether they had done their part in | upholding its prestige, which very largely depended on the actions of members themselves. He drew attention to the criticism which had been levelled at members of the National Expenditure Commission and said that while it was the duty of Parliament to criticise the report it' was not its duty to attack members. of the Commission personally. The report had shown shortcomings in the administration of the past and Parliament had to assume certain responsibilities and had to face the task of rectifying matters. It would still be necessary lor all expenditure to be subject to the most careful scrutiny.

Mr Ansell advocated the appointment of one supreme administrative body to co-ordinate and govern all forms of transportation activity in New Zealand. He considered the Commission’s suggestion that the Transport Department should be practically abolished was quite out of line with progressive ideas. Attempts to induce voluntary transport co-ordination had failed and the future would show that there must be compulsory co-ordination Referring to the transfer of petrol tax revenue to the Consolidated Fund, Mr Ansell expressed the opinion that the roads in New Zealand had definitely commenced to deteriorate and it was questionable whether the economy had proved a real one.

Mr V . Nash said the primary producer was deserving of the greatest possible help, but the help he received should be measured alongside the help given to other members of the community. The Labour Party stood for a guaranteed price for farm produce and he thought that within the next few years it would be possible to guarantee a. price that would pay the farmer to the full. That definitely implied the control of New Zealand’s external trade. Nash contended that the National Expenditure Commission had not given a true picture of the country’s position, nor bad it pointed to a road along which New Zealand could travel to progress. He defended the expenditure on social sendees and said that if it bad not been for that expenditure the Dominion’s national income might not have increased as it had. The way to increase the national income was to provide greater opportunities for the people.

LAND VALUES AND TAX-

ATION

Mr P. A. de la Perrelle submitted that New Zealand was still faced with the necessity of doing something to assist the farmers. He believed land values were too high and land taxation was also too high. A first essential for the recovery of the farming industry was that the markets should i>e extended and the Department of Industries and Commerce should make every endeavour to open up fresh avenues for the Dominion’s produce. He favoured encouraging secondary industries. but only so long as they could stand up against competition from outside. Mr de la Perrelle, who is a former Minister of Internal Affairs, disagreed with the Expenditure's Commission’s recommendation that the trade offices

in Australia and Canada should be closed. The Commission also had apparently failed to realise the importance of the tourist services to the Dominion. He hoped the Government would disregard the recommendations in these directions.

Mr R. Semple characterised the Budget as a mean and miserable document which marked another step on the road to national bankruptcy. He said the only way to establish a healthy national balance-sheet was to have a prosperous people. The amendment of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act had l>een a definite incentive to employers to reduce wages further, and South Island farmers had come to the conclusion that they had not gained one penny piece as a result of wage reductions. Dealing with the proposal to establish a central bank, Mr Semple said the Government had no mandate to barter away the right of the people to have free and unfettered control of their own currency, and he believed that would be the result of the establishment of a central bank in the manner proposed. It would chain tire country to the international gang of usurers that had been to some extent responsible for the difficulties confronting the world to-day. Mr W. J. Poison: On the Niemeyer plan, it would. Mr Semple: The Budget says it is proposed to establish a bank along the lines recommended by Sir Otto Nei m ever.

Mr H. Holland (Christchurch North) urged the adoption of the Expenditure Commission’s recommendation that the Transport Department be handed over to the Public Works Department for administration. He said whatever were the failings of the Public Works Department it could not impose harder or more unreasonable conditions than the Transport Department did. He was satisfied it had not justified its existence. Mr Holland referred to the case in which the residents of Havelock North petitioned for permission for a taxi service to remain in operation. The Commissioner of Transport had replied stating that he would not permit it and would see that legislation was introduced this session to prevent the service operating. Mr Holland submitted that the Commissioner was unfit for the position he occupied. He had informed the representatives of 696 residents that they had no hope of getting a better service and that they would get no consideration at his hands.

“NO SHORTAGE OF WEALTH.”

Mr F. Langstone asserted that there was no need for a slump in the Dominion. New Zealand could regulate her internal conditions irrespective of what other countries did. It was simply because New Zealand followed the policy of other countries that the depression was felt here. There was no shortage of wealth. There was simply a shortage of income. The first duty of the Government should be to create the money required by the people based on the Dominion’s securities.

Mr E. F. Healy referred t-o his recent trip to Canada and said what he bad seen there had led him to believe that New Zealand had been very slow in completing the main arterial railways. He had returned more eager than ever to see the main lines completed.

Mr J. O’Brien said that if the Expenditure Commission’s recommendation to reduce the number of hospital districts were adopted it would sound the death knoll of the efficiency of hospitals which were at present wonderful institutions. He also criticised numerous other recommendations and said the withdrawal of the subsidy on herd testing would be particularly un-

fortunate. Herd testing had been of great benefit to agriculture and had tremendously increased butterfat production throughout the Dominion. | The debate was adjourned on the ' motion of the Leader of the Opposition, Air H. E. Holland, and the House rose at 11.25.