DEFENCE IN AUSTRALIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23647, 3 November 1938, Page 2

DEFENCE IN AUSTRALIA

_ ♦■ INCREASES IN TAXATION Commenting on the Federal Budget, the president of the Melbourne-Charo-ber of Commerce (Mr'T. W. Haynes) said that the busiiness community realised that an increase in taxation was inevitable owing to the heavy, commitments for defence and national Insurance. The heavy addition to the

income tax would be a great burden on enterprise, more especially at the moment, when Mr Menzies had expressed the opinion, based on his recent visit to Great Britain, that Australia must consider extending its manufacturing undertakings with 9 view to increased output for export. The chamber would suggest to the Government that the time had come for a special committee to be set up to review every form of public expenditure other than that of defence. Such an investigation, Mr Haynes understood, was part of the British policy, and would return remarkably good re-

sults in diverting activities from ordinary departments to defence, thus saving at least a part of the huge Govern ment expenditure, which was now getting out of proportion to the income of the country The chamber would not wish to unduly emphasise the adverse effect upon private and public incomes on account of the greatly reduced returns from primary production, but such a factor must not be disregarded by the Government. The chamber was of opinion that the estimated receipts from the proposed taxation might not be reallscd because of the reduction in in-

come which was expected. At the same time, expenditure was likely to be over the estimate if further expenditure on armaments should become necessary. ,_ With regard to land tax, Mr Haynes said the chamber had always set its face against that form of taxation as retrograde in character, and regretted that the Government had found it necessary to make an increase.