FACTS GIVEN IN BUDGET

Southland Times, Issue 23888, 5 August 1939, Page 8

FACTS GIVEN IN BUDGET

PLEA FOR SIMPLER PRESENTATION MISLEADING FIGURES ALLEGED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, August 4. A plea to the Government for a simpler presentation of the facts that should be disclosed in the Budget was made by Mr S. G. Holland (Nat., Christchurch North) in the House this afternoon. He contended that it was the policy of the Government to confuse the people and that the Budget had been made up along those lines. _ “The figures should be arranged in such a manner that ordinary persons of average intelligence can thoroughly understand them,” he declared. I have come to the conclusion that the figures displayed in the Budget are most misleading.” , , , . One of the tables stated that for the current year the total taxation would be £32,000,000, but the facts were that that was only part of the real total. The Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) had disclosed the fact that, in addition to the ordinary taxation given in the Budget, the Government was going to take from the pockets of the taxpayers about £9,000,000. Therefore the total was not £32,000,000, but at least £41,000,000. If that was the correct amount, why not say so? Mr Holland said that that the totals shown in the Budget were made up of figures taken from here, there and everywhere, but the figure that the Minister of Railways had quoted to the House did not appear anywhere, except in the statement that he had made. In another case, customs taxation and customs income was shown as £1,650,000 below last year’s receipts; on another page of the Budget, customs receipts were said to be down by only £650,000. “How can ordinary persons follow a set-up of figures presented in such a way,” he asked.