Question for Mr Armstrong

Northern Advocate, 13 June 1938, Page 4

Question for Mr Armstrong

“If, as Mr Armstrong says, unemployment is practically cured, why does he still collect nearly £7,000,000 in unemployment tax?” asked the Hon. Adam Hamilton, National Party leader, during his address in the Whangarei Town Hall on Saturday night. “If it is a fact that New Zealand’s unemployment problem is cured, and' yet this amount is collected, then I must say that he is telling only a halftruth,” continued Mr Hamilton. “Of this sum, £5,000,000 would provide 50,000 men with £2 a week for a year. “Mr Armstrong denied that there has been any increase in taxation by the present Government, on the grounds that the national income had also increased. There was an increase of £8,000,000 in revenue due to increased prosperity, but the Minister lor got to mention that £2,000,000 had been taken in new taxation. Mr Nash in 193 G had said that, although no increase would be necessary, over £1,000,000 more would be gained from land tax and income tax. “For Mr Armstrong to say that there had been no additional taxation was not correct,” he concluded.