DOMINION BUDGET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26198, 8 July 1946, Page 4

DOMINION BUDGET

DATE OF PRESENTATION PROBABLY NEXT MONTH MR NASH’S PLANS tN.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Rec. 11.30 p.nj.) LONDON, July 6. Mr Walter Nash, accompanied by Mrs Nash, Mr B. Ashwin, Mi" H. Schmidt and Mr D. Campbell, his private secretary, will leave England by air for New York to-morrow. They expect to arrive at mid-day on Monday. and Mr Nash will have conversations with the Secretary of State. Mr James Byrnes, on lend-lease and Pacific bases before going to Ottawa, where he will consult with the Prime Minister, Mr Mackenzie King, on the question of Pacific transport. Mr Nash at present expects to return to New Zealand by July.2l. and probably to present the Budget early in August. This is not yet certain, for it is possible he may

go to Paris from Canada to represent New Zealand at the Peace Conference of 21 nations. Before he left London Mr Nash conferred with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Hugh Dalton, the President of the Board of Trade, Sir Stafford Cripps, and the Minister of Food, Mr John Strachey. He also received several deputations of business men desiring to export to New Zealand. He told them that the New Zealand Government planned to continue its present import licensing system; but he would examine representations made to determine whether amendments satisfactory to the Government and the exporters could be effected. At the invitation of the Australia and New Zealand section of the Chamber of Commerce, he discussed trade matters. It was emphasised that this was a private and informal meeting and the press was excluded. In a vetted report, it was later stated that Mr Nash had declared that he was determined that New Zealand should never again be threatened by inability to meet its commitments and added that New Zealand was importing, and would continue to do so, as much as she could pay for and was giving effective preference to British goods. Questioned “ in a frank and friepdly atmosphere,” Mr Nash recognised that complete prohibition of an article previously imported might cause hai’dship to an exporter, but it was difficult to justify the admission of imports where New Zealand manufacturers were able to meet the whole of the Dominion demand. No information was available of negotiations regarding bulk purchase contracts. It is understood that the talks are still proceeding.