END OF DEBATE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 26 August 1939, Page 2

END OF DEBATE

FINANCE AND TAXATION BILLS j OPPOSITION AMENDMENTS LOST MEASURES PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES 1 Frou> Our Own Parliamentary Reporter! j WELLINGTON, This Day. Urgency having been taken for their passing, the Finance Bill and the Land and Income Tax (Annual) Bill were disposed of in time to allow the House of representatives to rise at the usual time of 5.30 p.m. yesterday for the week-end adjournment. Amendments moved by the Opposition were lost. The Bills were then sent to the Legis- , lative Council, which wasted little time in passing them through all stages. BORROWING FOR HOUSING The clause in the Finance Bill empowering the Government to borrow £3,500,000 for housing purposes was responsible for a short discussion in the House, during the course of which the Minister of Housing (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong), expressed the hope that legislation would be passed during the session providing for rural housing. Mr A. E. Jull (National, Waipawa) suggested that the Government should assist building societies and those who wished to build houses for themselves. Mr D. C. Kidd (National, Waitaki) expressed the view that in the event of the Government bringing down a rural housing bill that the Opposition would give it full support. Objection was taken to the cramping up of houses in Canterbury by Mr H. S. S. Kyle (National, Riccarton). He said he could understand houses being closely packed together in Wellington, but with ample land available in Canterbury there should be no occasion for congestion or for the construction of narrow streets in State housing areas. A CHALLENGE ACCEPTED The highlight of proceedings during j the Committee stages of the discussion i on the Finance Bill came when the! Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, accepted the challenge I made overnight by the Minister of, Public Works, the lion. R. Semple. ■ The Minister had invited Mr Hamilton j to join him in resigning his seat if the j Opposition's allegations of wasteful | expenditure on Public Works could be j proved by a properly constituted tri-1 bunal. Mr Semple also asked Mr! Hamilton to contribute £IOO to the I Crippled Children’s Fund as one of! the conditions to the resignation. Mr Hamilton was emphatic when he 1 took Mr Semple at his word. The Minister, he said, had thrown out the challenge in spectacular and picturesque language and the Opposition would not 1 let it pass. “It is now for his Government to set up a Royal Commission to conduct the investigation which the Minister has suggested,” added Mr Hamilton. "If I the Commission concludes that all the j expenditure was justified and the j money properly spent, we will pay the I £ 100, and pay gladly.” AMENDMENT MOVED Mr Hamilton followed up this thrust by moving an amendment to reduce the proposed loan of £15,000,000 for Public Works to £14,000,000 as a further protest against expenditure which the Opposition considered excessive. In retaliation Mr Semple declared that the ground had not been cleared by Mr Hamilton. He had accepted the challenge but not quite on the terms j that had been suggested. The Minister i said he was not responsible for the j whole of the vote for Public Works, 'his responsibility resting on the spendj ing of the money. If the Opposition accepted the challenge it was for them

to prove that the method of the expen- 1 j diture had been wasteful. Mr Hamilton: The Commission will say that. Mr Semple said he had also undertaken to prove before the tribunal that: i he had saved tens of thousands of i pounds on Public Works, and that tens of thousands of pounds had been wast- i ed by past administrations. He was j willing to talk the proposition over j with Mr Hamilton privately if he de-1 sired to come to some sensible arrangement. At this stage the Acting-Prime Min-1 ister, the Hon. P. Fraser, intervened. J •TOO RIDICULOUS FOR WORDS” "The Government has something to about this,” he declared amidst Opposi-1 lion laughter. "There is going to be j .no Commission, and that is that. No j I Minister ol the Crown is going to be | subjected to humiliation of that sort. If the Opposition and the Minister want to continue the argument, they can make private arrangements. But, to • suggest solmenly that a commission j should be set up to judge a Minister | and the Government is too ridiculous j for words. ; Mr W. J. Poison (National, Stratj ford): I agree that it would be an ex- : traordinary thing to try a Minister by a Royal Commission. The Chairman of Committees (Mr R. McKeen): Order. Thi is not in the ’ Bill. ’ Mr Semple: I did not suggest a Royal Commission. Mr Semple: The Minister issued the challenge, and the Government must find some way out. The Chairman would not permit any | further discussion and on a division the amendment was lost •*>’ 38 votes to 24. MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS The desire of the Opposition not to prolong the debate unduly, while at the same time to impress upon the Government the necessity for some curtailment of expenditure, was expressed by Mr Hamilton. He explained that the attitude taken up by his party was due to a recognition that more important mat- ; ters even than the Finance Bill were probably engaging the attention of the Government, and therefore the Opposition would move its amendments to , the Bill without undue discussion. "W 3 do say, however, that we consider the proposed expenditure excessive, and if the Government likes to say that it will cut down that £15,000,000 bor- ’ rowing for public works and taper off j the expenditure over three years, we I will support it,” Mr Hamilton continj ued. The present rate of spending could ! not go on, and the tapering off time ! had arrived. The acting Leader of the House (the Hon. P. Fraser) had ex- ! pressed concern about the standard of j living of the people, and the Opposi- ’ j tion was just as concerned about it J but had different ideas about how to j secure it. Unless the people were put j to productive enterprise the standard of I living could not be sustained. PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISE "I am sure that the Government by now is well acquainted with that problem and we don’t want to embarrass it \ 1 in the difficulties of transferring peo- ' pie from public works to primary and I secondary industries. Nevertheless, we concerned that that £15,000.000 : j into public works instead of into pro- ’; ductive enterprise.” I Mr Fraser expressed the Govern- ; ment’s appreciation of the attitude ? ; taken up by the Opposition. The Go- : I vernment, he declared, did not believe in having any one of its Ministers attacked or isolated. They stood shoult der to shoulder, and whatever criticism there was against the Minister of ' Public Works was against the Government as a whole and they took full responsibility for anything that was done. No request had been made to the Opposition regarding the continuation of the debate, but it was much better that it should not be unduly prolonged. He ' repeated that he had no fear about 5 the financial future of the Dominion and expressed his complete confidence ; that the standard of living of the peo- ’ pie would be maintained. i INCREASED DEATH DUTIES i A denial that the retrospective pro-

. vision relating to the increased death duties payable on the estates ol persons . dying after Ist August, 1939, was di- ; reeled at any particular estate or es- . tates was given by Mr Fraser, v Mr W. A. Bodkin <National. Central Otago) moved an amendment to bring . the provision into operation after the passing of the Act. and this was de- ; feated by 36 votes to 24. after the At-torney-General (the Hon. H. G. R. Ma- . son) had pointed out that it was impossible for any action prejudicial to any . estate to have been complete between . Ist August last and the present time Opposition members described the . provision as unjust and harsh, and gen- [ erally criticised the principle of retro--1 j spective taxation. The Financial Bill \vi s put through . | the remaining stages without amendI ment and with very little discussion. The discussion on the Land and In- ! come Tax Bill is reported under sep--1 a rate headings..