ECONOMY IN AUSTRALIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 13

ECONOMY IN AUSTRALIA

A VITAL STATEMENT

To the taxpayer a vital statement in the annual report of the Commonwealth Auditor-General is that if custom)* revenue falls, .some other form of taxation can hardly be avoided, because unless policy is materially altered, the definite expenditure commitments are so great the.t the margin for savings is wry small. In an examination of Australia's present financial condition, the Auditor-General says that only by reducing imports and increasing exports can the exchange position be remedied. Although high exchange rates may automatically reduce imports, large remittances for interest must continue, hut there is little hope of raising any large loans abroad in the near future. The present exchange, rates arc, therefore, likely to continue for some time, with consequent reduction in imports and customs revenue. He recommends tnat all Government expenditure should bo reduced so as to bring the annual costs of government -within the revenue. In particular, loan expenditure. so heavy in the past, should be confined to services of a reproductive character. It is necessary that the consumption of the community as a whole (including payments abroad) should not exceed its production. To this end, production should be increased wherever possible, markets sought, duplication abolished, and every reasonable saving made. "It is clear that prosperity can be secured only by the reasonable curtailment of public and private expenditure, and by the elimination of waste," the report concludes. "These call, however, for the united efforts of the whole people, whether in the field, the factory, the office, or the home. Without such an effort, or if industrial harmony is absent, the exercise of thrift in a severe form may be forced upon the community. Money saved in Australia is available for loans and capital work, and by thus avoiding payment of interest abroad, general benefit results. The resources of Australia are so great that a return to a, satisfactory economic position may readily he achieved if the whole community will combine to make a moderate effort to pull together, work harder, and save more."