Penny In £1 Premium On Equity Plan By Holland

Northern Advocate, 5 July 1940, Page 3

Penny In £1 Premium On Equity Plan By Holland

Debate On Budget

[Per Press Association. Copyright .] WELLINGTON, This Day

A SUGGESTION, ADVANCED AS AN ALTERNATIVE AND . NOT AN ADDITION TO THE BUDGET PROPOSALS, WAS PUT BEFORE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES LAST NIGHT BY MR. S. G. HOLLAND (OPPOSITION—CHRISTCHURCH NORTH).

It was that the people should be asked to pay a premium of,, say, Id in the £1 on the equity in their properties.

Everyone would pay according to the amount of property he had to be protected against the risk of war reaching New Zealand.

For example; in the case of a, property worth £IO,OOO, with a mortgage of £7OOO, the mortgagee would pay 7000 pence and the occupier 3000 pence.

Adequate provision would have to be made for cases of hardship and soldiers ? property would he exempt. ■

Small equities might also be exempt

The suggestion was not in the nature of a capital levy,

Everyone with assets, Mr. Holland said, would thus pay in proportion to what they had at stake in the country, and it would discourage people from sitting hack and living on their capital and paying the minimum amount towards the internal costs of the war.

Mr. Holland said that in normaH*times the Budget would have presented the Opposition with an opportunity for . a critical examination of the Govern- ' ment’s past performances, but in these times everyone, must be intent on saving the Empire. The only thing that counted today ' was getting on with the war as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Today everyone in the community was anxious to do something, and he would urge that the Government should put into practice its previous promise that everyone should be given a task. He was of the opinion that the proposed increased taxation would bear 1 with increasing harshness on those : with smaller incomes. i It was not sufficient for the Govern- i ment to say ‘‘pay up or perish." There was no question of the de- i cision and determination of people to < pay up, but, in his opinion, the burden ] of war costs was not being spread as equitably as possible. j Sales Tax Increase Bombshell. j Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Independent— Egmont) contended that increase in sales tax, provided for in the Budget, had come as a bombshell. i Everyone had been ready for anything in the way of an increase in * income-tax, but the sales tax increase had been a complete surprise, and he ' was afraid the worker would have to pay a heavy share of it. £ After advocating greater assistance in the direction of housing for the '■ farming community, Mr Wilkinson re- c ferred to the Government’s proposals for control of overseas securities held c by New Zealanders. Many of these securities, he said, i had been purchased a lifetime s ago, ard these should be in dif- 1 ferent categories from those pur- e chased within the last four or five years. t

mic life of the country, and the easier it would be for the country to meet its commitments. How to Finance Wars.

The Minister for Lands (Mr Langstone) said it was a recognised thing that wars should be financed from current production. Every uniform for the New Zealand men in the last war, and every shot fired were paid for before they were used.

Every contractor was paid in cash for his contracts.

Dealing with primary production, the Minister said that everything possible was being done by the Government to assist and encourage the primary producer.

This year the Government was making special effort to increase the production of cheese, pork and like commodities.

The Government had appealed to farmers throughout the Dominion to organise to this end, and this was being done. None More Willing to Assist.

There was no section of the community more willing to assist than the farmers, who were working with might and main. - Better production, he contended, would come from better feeding of stock, and he stressed the value of scientific research.

In this direction, the spending which the Government had done had largely created public assets. The houses being built were good ones.

Quite a number of these older securities were the backbone of commerce, and the Minister for Finance should use the greatest discretion in dealing with them, instead of taking them over and selling them on the market.

There had not been many farm houses built, he said, but this was possibly the fault of the local bodies for not having taken the matter up as enthusiastically as they should. In conclusion, the Minister stated that he did not think anything would be achieved in the direction of assisting the country’s war effort by a policy of niggardly economy and greatly reduced spending. P.W. Expenditure.

Fair Scheme Necessary,

He might deal with them by hypothecation and raise equivalent amounts on them in Australia.

He thought most holders of such stocks would be only too pleased to hand them over if some fair scheme was devised. Mr Wilkinson also considered that the Government might profitably view the'use of the reserve of £3,000,000 in gold in the Reserve Bank for the purchase of war necessities in the United States, and it should also inquire into the position being created by the 40hour week, as it affected the war effort, especially in country districts. He also complained of the recent imposition of heavy traffic license fees on farmers’ waggons taking milk to factories, especially in view of the fact that farmers had been asked to increase cheese production. What was wanted at present, said Mr Wilkinson, was all the best men available to lead the country. Party government always brpke flown in a crisis, and when great crises arose, Britain always called on the best from all parties to help. The same should have been

Mr J. G. Cobbe (Opposition—Manawatu) stated that there could be no suggestion that members on the Opposition benches wished to cut down public works expenditure unreasonably, but, without doubt, there were some things which it was intended to do immediately that could be deferred tor some considerable time.

During the last four years several members of the Ministry had visited Europe and must have been conversant with the threatening international situation, but they had made no preparation for the war which was imminent.

If better financial methods had beenSj used by the Government during j those four years a great deal of extra taxation of today would be unnecessary.

done in New Zealand, and he hoped it would be done yet.

Party should go into the background for the duration of the war. Ramp to Undermine 40-Hour Week.

The Minister for Marine (Dr. McMillan) expressed the opinion that there was a ramp on to undermine the 40-hour week. He also stated that the Government did not object to, but rather welcomed constructive criticism.

However, criticism ivhich had appeared in the Press of the Government’s efforts, would lead one ;to believe that the Government was always wrong.

No one could always be wrong, and events had proved that the Government, in nearly every instance, had been right. The Opposition had referred to

the unseen hand controlling the Labour Party. There was no unseen hand, and members of the party themselves controlled it. It. was the most democratic of - any party in New Zealand. Some people thought that by raising money for the Red Cross and holding social afternoons and bridge parties, they" were helping the war effort.

No Reflection,

That might be true, said Dr. McMillan ;

The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser): They are doing really good work, and I hope no one will cast a reflection upon them. ,

Dr. McMillan: I had no intention of casting any reflection on these people He continued, however, by suggesting that a number of them should go into factories. That would assist ,in giving the country a greater value of goods to consume, in order to assist the econo-

The present Budget, he said, had damped a certain amount of enthusiasm in New Zealand and he considered that public works expenditure could be reduced by £10,000,000 without any serious difficulty. The debate was interrupted by adjournment at 10.30 p.m.