NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCES

Southland Times, Issue 23795, 18 April 1939, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCES

POLICY OF LABOUR GOVERNMENT

DEMAND FOR SPECIFIC STATEMENT

“Apparently the Labour Government is not prepared to make a public statement about its future financial policy, said the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, in a statement yesterday. “Labour Ministers aie usually quick with their statements, in reply to criticism of particular administration, although sometimes exhibiting a lack of courtesy and frankness that is becoming a byword in politics today. That makes the silence in this particular significant.” . ~ It was particularly significant, said Mr Hamilton, that no statement was made by either Mr Nash or Mr Savage in reply to his statement conceining the financial situation before the beginning of the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party. Also did not Mr Nash and Mr Savage take the conference into their confidence as to the measures that would have to be adopted to meet the present crisis? Did they think it best to get the conference difficulties over first, and then talk details of financial stringency after it had dispersed? “We have had the experience of last election when the true state of affairs was withheld, and may therefore be excused for wondering, said Mr Hamilton. PLAIN FACTS WANTED Mr Nash must deal with the public accounts at an early date, and it was to be hoped that now that the immediate hurdle of the conference criticism had passed, he would get down to plain facts with the people. There was no justification for withholding a full explanation of the financial policy until the Budget was brought down.- Not only was the present financial situation tense, but, with a prospect of deficit budgeting in the immediate future, the whole community must be concerned as to the length of time that the present emergency conditions of control and confusion would continue. A deficiency of £2,000,000 for the present financial year had been estimated by Mr Nash when recently introducing the social security scheme. . Expenditure on defence, to be in line with expansion in other parts of the British Empire must increase substantially. Full provision for unemployment had disappeared since April 1. Instead of more than £5,000,000 being available, there would be merely £1,500,000 for sustenance. Mr Langstone had already made a request for £2,000,000 to provide for the employment of Maoris in the year following the abolition of the unemployment fund. “All these considerations, and more, I cannot be lightly brushed aside, and I repeat that in failing to make any specific statement to the people concerning all these known facts the Government is neglecting its first duty,’ declared Mr Hamilton. “No one can talk co-operation, nor are they entitled to it, until uncertainty has been dispelled by frankness. No one can keep the people’s goodwill by keeping them in the dark. The budgetary situation is of first importance today, since it is on Budget policy, more than anything else, that the lifting of restrictions, when London funds have been restored, depends. “PROPAGANDA TALK” “Mr Savage and Mr Nash, in their announced insulation methods, have made it clear that they have manipulative power with money unknown to the rest of the world. In actual fact, this has just been propaganda talk. The courses open to them today have no connection with ‘easy money’ and ‘something for nothing’ talk. Of those courses, it would not be surprising to see the volte face of Mr Savage seeking a loan overseas; and the course taken regarding rates of interest, even internally, since they have already been broken from the pegged level for overseas borrowing, will be a real revelation of how Labour talk measures up to Labour action.” Mr Savage, speaking on December 12, 1938, had made his attitude clear. He said: “The present administration might easily have followed the bad example of its predecessors and floated a loan in London to keep the balance of trade and maintain our overseas credits, but we set out to pay our overseas debt—not increase it . . . .”

As to the internal loan position, said Mr Hamilton, it would appear that an attempt on the open market at. present would have little prospect of success. Today Labour’s commitments were in excess of revenue. They had already deteriorating finances. • They faced deficit budgeting. The people must have clear statements of future proposals for repairing the position. Why the silence?