SURPLUS OF £593,000

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 843, 11 December 1929, Page 9

SURPLUS OF £593,000

N.S.W. BUDGET PRESENTED BY TREASURER

MOTORS KNOCK RAILWAYS Reed. 9.45 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. In the Legislative Assembly’ yesterday the Treasurer, Mr. B. S. B. Stevens, delivered the Budget speech. He said the financial operations for the year ended June 30 last had resulted in a surplus of £593,169. The revenue was £20,703,940, and the expenditure £20,110,771. Mr. Stevens said he estimated that the revenue this year would diminish by £420,137. There was the utmost difficulty in arriving at the revenue estimates, owing to the uncertain financial trade outlook. He estimated the current year’s expenditure at £20,262,417, which was slightly greater than that of last year. GRAVE POSITION Commenting on the economic position, which he described as grave, and the diminishing purchasing power of the community and the growth of unemployment, which was accentuated by the coal trade deadlock, Mr. Stevens said that whereas the average amount received by Australia for the past five years from the sale of her primary products abroad was about £141,000,000, the amount which these would realise in 1925-29 would be onlv £112,000,000. In other words, there would be £29.000,000 less coming into Australia for the sale of her products. Mr. Stevens announced that the Government was compelled to reduce the amount of loans from £14,500,000 to £10,000,000 for this year, owing to the adverse market conditions for overseas loans. REDUCED TAXATION The Government proposed to try to stimulate production and to reduce the burden's on industry. It would reduce the taxation on incomes this year by £1,000,000, and the supertax of Hd in the pound on companies would not be levied this year, while the maximum rate of 3s would be reduced by 3d to 2s 9d. There would also be a general reduction of 5 per cent, in the rates on incomes from individual personal exertion and property. The existing method of child endowment taxafkm would be substantiated by a tax of 1 per cent, on the wages of employees under State awards as from January 1. This method would lift a, burden off industry of about £1,000,000 a year. The Government also intended to obtain additional revenue froin increased charges for liquor and tobacco licences, and betting taxes. The Treasurer announced that they expected to finish the financial year with a surplus of £21,386. He intimated that it was also proposed to impose a tax on amusements. RAILWAY DEPARTMENT Referring to the growth of the competition of motor traffic against the railways, Mr. Stevens said the time had arrived when the Railway Department would have to go after business rather than wait for it to come to the railways. The railways’ earnings last year were £19,000,000. The working expenses were approximately £15,000,000, and the interest bill over £6,000,000. The capital invested in the New South Wales railways, £124,000,000, aggregated almost half the public debt.