NO BALANCE THIS YEAR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17409, 6 November 1930, Page 7

NO BALANCE THIS YEAR

THE AUSTRALIAN BUDGET m I i'J.. £5,000,000 MORE TAXATION ECONOMIES SAVE £1,230,000 fEloc. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) CANBERRA, NoV. 5. ; In the course of a long’statement in the House of Representatives to-day, Mr. Lyons, aeting-Fcdcral Treasurer, disclosed the serious drift in Commonwealth finances since the Budget was delivered last July.' He also outlined tlie Government’s proposals for the of expenditure and for the increasing revenue. He anticipated that with the restoration of confidence and the re? vival of trade, the deficit would be between £8,000,000 and £10,000,000. He pointed out that, with only eight months to go, it would not ho possible to balance the ledger during the present financial .year. The most that could’ be achieved, without undue sacrifices, was to plan the budget on such a basis that, wln?n it operated f-or a full year, the ledger would bo balanced. The Government, he said, intended to impost' new revenue duties estimated to yield £"..100 Odd annually, but the sum realisable 'for tljc ret remainder of this year would be only) £2.000.000. New liicofne tax proposal?* would apply principally to incomes, from property, such as intqrcrtt,, dividends, and rents. There w*onid?ybe a super-tax of 7$ pet cent, upon .all'incomes, including that of coriipfthies, from property, and this was expected to yield £1,500,000. There would also ho an increase of 5 per cent, in the rate of tax on incomes from personal exertion above £SOO, which would produce £1(50,000 additional reyenue. The Federal Ministers’ salaries would, be subjected to special taxation at thp rate of 15 per cent, and those of members of Parliament" at the rate of .10. per cent. HEAVY LOAN LIABILITIES Government employees whose salaries exceed £725 will pay a special tax pf 10 per cent.; above £IDOO 12$ per cent., whilst those which exceed £ISOO will pay 15 per cent. It is ahtjclpfiled that this tax will produce £OO,OOO in- a full year, but only £40,000 for the remainder of tho current financial year. Mr. Lyons said that the .total extra, taxation would amount to £4,820,000 in a full year, but the sunt expected for the remainder, of this year wouldamount to £3,700,000. He hoped-to., make further savings and economics amounting to £1,230 000; It was intended to reduce the contribution .to the sinking fund by £1,950.000. These two items represented at total of expenditure reductions of ‘£3jlßo,ooo- - a full year. Thus the expenditure reductions and the new taxation combined revealed a total benefit to the budget of £8,000,000 for a full year. Mr. Lyons said that the annual overseas liabilities of the Australian Governments consist mainly of iute-est and sinking fund and amount to about £34,000,000, while the net shcit term indebtedness of Australia at October 31 was £7,134,000.

Declaring that the financial .’c-rcs-sion and trade dullness had been accentuated since the financial proposals for balancing the budget wore deter-.. mined four months ago, Mr. Lyons said that there had been a serious shortage of postal receipts and that the claims for pensions—invalid, old age, and war—had greatly increased ‘ while the estimates for exchange on remittances to London also-would bo inadequate by nearly £500,000. .Wool was notv averaging about 9d per 1b.,., compared wiwth Is 3d last year and Is 7d flic year before. Wheat f.o.b. Australia, was less than 3s per. bushel compared with 5s last year.

INCREASED TARIFFS ’ , CD A POUND ON TEA 4 PER CENT. PRIMAGE DUTY (Received November 6, noon.) CANBERRA, Nor. 6. Resolutions for an immediate increase in the tariff on certain goods were submitted to the House of Representatives. The customs duty on tobacco was increased by 2s 2d per lb., and the excise duty by 2s a lb. Tea will have to bear a customs duty of 4d per lb. imported in bulk, and 6d in packets not exceeding 201 b. net weight. Kerosene, formerly free, now bears a duty of Id a gallon. Coffee, chicory, rubber, cutlery,, carpets, filament lamps, and a variety of other goods are affected. The primage duty is increased,from per cent, to 4 per cent. ' • “INFLATION” • ADVERSE LONDON COMMENT LONDON, Nov. 5. The Financial News says: *<The nows from Australia can only bo regarded as another nail in the coffin of Australian credit. The methods by which the Federal caucus proposes to meet Australia's commitments is describable by only one word, “in* llation.”