Finance Minister Replies

Northern Advocate, 11 August 1938, Page 13

Finance Minister Replies

Immediately after Mr. Kyle had resumed his seat after a point of order had been discussed, the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Walter Nash, rose to reply to the Budget debate. He instanced criticism of the Budget by members of the Opposition, but said the Leader of the Opposition had called the Budget an orthodox one. He did not see how the Opposition could say these things and then call the Budget orthodox without indicting previous Governments. Where Money Comes From. It had also been asked where the money for housing- was coming from. It was coming from Treasury Bills, said Mr. Nash, as had been nlalnly indicated before. The Minister continued that despite accusations to the contrary, there had not been a penny increase in income tax in 1938 as compared with 1937, and he also said he would not advise members of the Opposition to criticise' the state of the Public Service Superannuation Fund because the funds had never been able, in their entirety, to meet total commitments against them. It would cost some £30,000,000 to- reorganise those funds and place them on a sound financial footing.

' Land Tenure. It had also been stated, said Mr Nash, that the Government was not in favour of freehold land tenure, but there was no more secure tenure offered than the Government was at present giving tenants of houses erected under the Government’s housing scheme. Under past Governments, said Mr Nash, half the people had lost | their land because they had been un- j able to meet their commitments. London Press Approval. London comments on the Dominion’s finances had also been mentioned by the Opposition, said Mr Nash, but he quoted statements by the “London Times” and “Financial News,” of London. expressing satisfaction with New Zealand's present position. Mr Nash also said there had been a reduction in‘New Zealand’s national debt, through the use of sinking funds, and the statement that the Dominion was living beyond its resources was quite without foundation. Need for Inquiry. Continuing, the Minister slated that the member for Patea had stated that under the present Government, the cost of freezing in the Dominion had gone up some £750,000 in the year. That was strange, added Mr Nash. If costs had increased to that extent, there would have to be investigation into the balance-sheets of the various companies. Unemployment Tax. Speaking of the Opposition’s claim that had it been in office it would have removed the unemployment tax in the last year, Mr Nash said that a I sum of five millions had been raised from this source. Where, then, would the Opposition have raised this five million if it had abolished the tax? Would it have reduced pensions, or cut down public works, etc.? There j were always two sides to the Government’s balance-sheet, he said. If the tax were removed, something else would also have to be removed to balance it. Interest Rate Reduction. The Government had claimed some measure of credit for reducing interest rates, but the Opposition had claimed that interest rates had not decreased. Mr Nash said he had stated at New Plymouth recently that interest rates \ were coming down. That statement | had been correct. Interest rales had I steadily declined since 1935. and the | fact that rates had declined was largely ; due to the present Government's pol- | icy. Referring to housing, the Minisj ter said that in no period in the coun- ! try’s history had bigger effort been • made to build houses of good type for ■ renting than had been made during the I past two years. 1 Mr Nasli continued to deal with ccni tentions that overseas credits had fallen, and also compared income tax paid in Britain with that in New Zeai land, stating that, in general, in many ■ cases income tax was higher in Britain than in the Dominion. i Social Security Bill, i In answer to a question by the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister stated that tomorrow evening the House would commence discussion on the report of the Social Security Committee. The Social Security Bill .vould be introduced on Friday afternoon and the second reading debate n the Bill would commence on Tuosd; y. ! The House rose at 10 30