NATIONAL PARTY CRITICIZED

Southland Times, Issue 23307, 17 September 1937, Page 8

NATIONAL PARTY CRITICIZED

Methods Of Taxation

During Term

GUARANTEED PRICE DEFENDED

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, September 16. “The only way the last Government was able to achieve taxation reductions was by lowering the taxes on beer and the totalizator,” said the Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fraser) replying in the House of Representatives tonight to points raised by the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton) during the Address-in-Reply debate. . Mr Fraser said that m references to the taxation policy of the Labour Party Mr Hamilton had shown “sheer audacity and recklessness.” “The Leader of the Opposition has not been as careful, well-guarded and responsible in his statements as we have been accustomed to,” said Mr Fraser. “Instead of his more responsible position bringing him an increased sense of responsibility his statements indicate that he considers that the more audacious and risky he is and the fewer facts he has for the foundation of his arguments then the more successful leader he will be. The honourable gentleman’s references to taxation snow this. He talks of the sales tax and this Government not taking it off. The sales tax was imposed by his Government and the reason collections from it have gone up is that the people are in a better position to buy the commodities on which the tax is levied. The sum total of the last Government’s fiscal achievements was to reduce the taxation on beer and the totalizator. A Government member: What about the graduated land tax being lifted to assist the banks?' TAXATION ON BEER “Oh, yes, they did that tod” replied Mr Fraser, “But I am talking about the taxation policy of that Government as it affected general commodities. Its greatest achievement was to reduce the taxation on beer and, of course, I have no doubt that such a step was of great benefit to the community generally. “Then we are • accused of using broadcasting facilities for propaganda tonight. The fact that probably tens of thousands of people who are listening in and who hear the Leader of the Opposition can do so without let or hindrance is the most conclusive refutation of that charge. What opportunity did the last Government give Labour when it was in opposition to . get its side of the question over the air? The policy statement was made by the’ last Government without the Labour Party being given a chance to state its case.” The Opposition was asking for reduced taxation, Mr .Fraser continued. Probably its members would advocate reduced pensions to attain that goal. As for the record of the previous Government, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes had said he would do the same things again under the same conditions but apparently the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates had had a change of heart. The latter had told a meeting of young Nationalists in Auckland that “some of the less popular methods taken during the depression” could have been avoided. The country had come through with flying colours. The savings bank deposits, which were one of the best tests of prosperity, had increased from £24,100,000 in 1935 to £30,600,000 in 1937. There was not much indication of ruin in those figures. Real wages had rise in company with a shorter working week and increased leisure. For the June quarter of 1937 they showed an increase of 7 per cent, over the same quarter in 1936 and of 9 per cent, over the same quarter in 1935. In other countries real wages had declined. WAGE SLASHES CONVERTED It appeared, said Mr Fraser, that members of the Opposition could not oppose a single piece of legislation which the Government had placed on the Statute Book. Wage . slashers and reducers of pensions had become converted on the Opposition benches. Even if they did not approve of the guaranteed price scheme the Government had the commendation of Mr W. Goodfellow and of the London authorities and the gratitude of the dairy farmers throughout the Dominion. No one connected with the dairy industry would return to the old order of things. . Unemployment returns sent in by farmers whose valuations did not exceed £3OOO showed that their income had increased by 62 per cent, during the past season. ... _ Sir Alfred Ransom: Will the Government reduce the tax accordingly? “The net income of these farmers averaged £lBO in 1936” Mr Fraser said “and it has now increased to £295. Opposition members can misrepresent and libel the Government until they are black in the face but in every home in the land there is more prosperity, more income and, above all, more security than ever existed under the previous Government.” Mr Fraser also referred to housing and unemployment, and said the Government would not rest until everybody in the country was properly housed and until every able-bodied man was in work. “The Opposition has launched a challenge to the Government,” Mr Fraser concluded. “It knows it cannot succeed in this House. It is endeavouring to impress the country. The country was impressed at last election and it will be similarly impressed at the next.”