Future Financing Of Main Highways Board

Northern Advocate, 13 September 1947, Page 4

Future Financing Of Main Highways Board

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Through the drastic alteration in connection with the future financing of the Main Highways Board, main highways finance would be the subject of estimates and votes, as in the case of most other Government departments, and he was very much afraid that in future motorists would be told, “There is the finance you get from the petrol tax, and that is all you can have,” said Mr E. R. Neale (O—Nelson) when the Budget debate was resumed in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. Mr Neale said the additional taxation of 4d which v/as added in 1939 was regarded as “a special contribution toward the extra heavy cost of defence,” but that tax penalised one class of taxpayer. He contended that that extra tax should be removed, or if it were necessary to retain it, it should be more equitably spread over the whole community.

The petrol tax of nearly 1/3 a gallon was the highest in the world.

In the estimates for this year the Minister has kept faithful to the undertaking that the Highways Boax-d would be allocated not less than the amount that would be produced by a tax of 6d a gallon. Mr Neale suggested that a greater portion of the very high petrol tax should be made available to the board, which would have a. great deal of work for several years to bring the roads back to anything like their real condition. PEOPLE’S SAVINGS

Mr Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, said if there was inflation then the most dangerous thing that could be done was to reduce taxation. It had been claimed from the Opposition benches that the Government was penalising thrift, but the small savings of the people were never more healthy than today.

Savings had increased by £152,000,000 since 1935 and now stood at £212,000,000, providing excellent security for the future and stability for the producers of the Dominion in the event of any trade recession overseas. Mr W. H. Fortune (O—Eden): It’s all paper money. Mr Parry said the present emphasis on savings was shown by the fact that (since 1930, the number of life assurance policies held in the Dominion had increased by 408,000, sums assured by £114,000,000, and annnual premiums by almost £4,000,000.

Mr G. F. Sim (O—Waikato) appealed for rtiore homes for old people who had no dwellings of their own and no relatives to care for them. Social security had largely removed their ! fear of poverty and they had money for their bare needs, but such were not the sum total of life and the comfort and companionship of a home was wanted. FOR ARMAMENTS Mr P. G. Connolly (G —Dunedin Central) said it was a sad commentary on world affaii’s that today £800,000,000 was spent on armaments. Mr W. A. Bodkin (O—Central Otago): Is Russia responsible for that? Mr Connolly: Oh, yes, partly. Mr Connolly went on to deal with the crisis in Britain, and said the time was opportune for the House to adjourn for a week to enable members to go to their electoi-ates and give the people the latest facts concerning that crisis.

Although the people of New Zealand had responded generously and had sent thousands of food pai’cels to I Britain, he considered there was a good j-deal of wastage in parcels, up to 40 ' per cent of the weight being packing. He suggested that the parcel system should be replaced by a bulk system of sending food, so that all wastage '-could be eliminated.