CRITICISM OF BUDGET

Taranaki Daily News, 8 August 1930, Page 11

CRITICISM OF BUDGET

DEBATE NEARING THE END f - CONTROVERSY OVER RAILWAYS. -, OPINIONS ON NEW TAXATION. By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Wellington, Last Night. ’’ Notice was given in the House of " Representatives to-day by Air. C. H. Chapman of his intention to introduce the Wellington Access Empowering Bill. . Replying to Air. P. Fraser, the lion. W. B. Taverner said no wholesale dismissals! of men on relief works and public works were contemplated. Air. Taverner, in answer to Mr, D. G. Sullivan, said the work at the Waitaki •hydro-electric scheme was being pushed on as rapidly as possible. The Prime Minister, in reply to Mr. J. S. Fletcher, said that relief work on the Whare Flat- Hoad was being carried out by arrangement with the Dune-dih''-Cityi’Uouh'cir’dnd thc’Taidri County Council bir the same basis'as the Gov-‘ ernment’s undertakings with other local bodies.' 1 ■■■■ •■■■■•■ The Patea Borough Empowering Bill (Mr. H; G. Dickie) was introduced and read a first time. The-Budget' debate was resumed by Air. J. O’Brien, who said the Financial Statement-had been-criticised by all the Reform and Labour members who had it seemed to him the.faint praise of the members of the Government was really the strongest condemnation of all. When all the features of the Budgetxjyere analysed it became apparent that the! working man would be hit the hardest tof- all. : It was not easy for a man to break off the smoking habit, and the additional taxation on cigarettes would cost Ithei average smoker 30s. a year. He did not think poorer people should be begrudged the little entertainment involved. in a weekly visit to the pictures, and for that reason he deprecated the imposition of the amusement tax on shilling tickets. PETROL TAX'OPPOSED. : ’ •' - •’ ■. < ’• .• ’ ■ In expressing his opposition to the petrol tax, Mr. O’Brien said it was men who were giving the greatest service ■ to the country who would feel the increase most. It might be thought the petrol tax amounted to a luxury tax, but the average wealthy 'man with a car would travel approximately 100 miles; a week at the rate. of2o miles dr sb to the gallon. A_ lorry driver, oh the other hand, traversed about 80 miles a day and averaged eight miles a gallon.!, It jbfecame apparent that the lorry driver would pay approximately 15s. per week, compared with the Is. 3d. paid by the owner of a private car. 1 Mr. ■ O’Brien favoured increased tax on higher incomes as an alternative to the Government’s proposals. ' He considered the duty placed on imported timber was not sufficiently heavy to give all the encouragement that was desirable for the: local industry. .It was nonsense to contend that protection would induce local timber men to raise prices. . .. , - . GOAL AHNE TRANSACTION. ■■■ ~iMr.-W. P. Endean said he believed •it'would-be--possible'to make the railways- > pay by placing;, the administration in the hands•of>a board of directors- consisting of hard-headed business ■ men; -Privately-owned railways in other countries were paying concerns, and There was no reason why the New Zealand- system should not be placed on ■the, same financial footing. He expressed. disapproval of the petrol tax from the point of view of residents in suburban yareas. It would be unfa'r to the people who had been. induced to live some little distance from the centres if bus fares were increased, and it was .only to be expected that would be- the consequence of the increased taxation. Mr. Endean criticised, the contract that had been made with the Glen Afton Collieries in connection with the lease of the Macdonald State mine. He believed' the Government had lost between £25,000 and £30,000 as a result of the contract. It would have been possible to make a much more satisfactory arrangement with another firm which had made the Government a more favourable offer.

Mr. 'ATM. Samuel described Mr. Clinkard’s attack on Mr. Fletcher for opposing the Government as an inspired ' ktft oh behalf bf the United Party. He ‘'iSdhiib- 1 brilef for Mr. Fletcher, but he 'did h'dVri a brief for' fair play. Mr. Flet- ' had ' entreated the Government to ’•ftflfil .'its'’pledges to the country, and. Government had failed he had -'taken'-'' this courageous step of severing '■hih' connection with the United Party. ■Ht. .Samuel expressed the opinion that if both Mr. Fletcher and one member of the' Government were to resign their •iedts and contest a by-election on the 'i'ssue'at stake the odds would be 100 to .■brie on Mr. Fletcher being returned by 'ft - large majority and.the Government -member being defeated. '<•■ Mb Samuel declared the Budget was "policy of despair. The whole eounilryi was seething \witfa discontent and dissatisfaction with the policy of the United Administration’s handling of the country’s finances. He criticised the appointment of six - new members to the Upper House at a time when the Prime Minister was preaching economy;' Mr. ■Samuel also drew attention to the fact ■that the six new members did not include a representative of the Native race,; although the term of one Native Qnember had expired. 0 c.' i.,. i RAILWAY COMMISSION.

<Mr. Samuel considered the Prime Minister-. had also failed to carry out a policy, of economy in connection with the appointment of the Railway Com.jpisgion. It would have been much leks costly to have instructed the general ffiapager and the superintendents of railways in both Islands to attend at .W? ?P in .e Minister’s office and make refjopxipendations as to how to make the P a y* He believed they would hp,Ye told the Prime Minister they could jlo this if the railways were depoliticalased,. As it was, the Government had appointed a costly Gilbert and Sullivan commission that would be unlikely to achieve success. Mr, Samuel declared there was a similarity between the Government’s tactics prior to the Parnell by-election and those at the present time. An optimistic view of the country’s financial situation had been expressed by the Government on the former occasion and now that there was ft by-election at Invercargill in pros-’ pect it was heinor .stated there was a

likelihood of a second steamer being obtained for the Bluff-Melbourne service. It would be more appropriate to describe it as “Bluff—lnvercargill electors’ service”. Mr. W. E. Barnard said he believed time would prove that the Kirikopuni railway should never have been constructed. He expressed the opinion that no information had been placed before the House which would justify the completion of the South Island main trunk railway. One was forced to the conclusion that'it must have been undertaken for political purposes. He regretted the Government had not agreed that consideration of the merits of this project should be included in the scope of the Railway Commission. It would appear the Government feared it would be recommended that the work should be stopped. He was not blaming the present Government for all the railway expenditure—much was due to the thoughtless extravagance of the previous administration, especially with respect to the expensive railway workshops. INDIRECT 1 TAXATION. Air. Barnard recalled the suggestion by Air. Downie Stewart that £000,001) could be raised by increasing the postage rate, and pointed out that this would result "in -business firnis passing the ■ .adde'd" cost'on ; 'to customers- It would : 'be- ; oniy another' form /of ,; indirect taxation. lie-favoured "obtaming-nioie -revenue through income tax,' death Jut : cs and hotel licenses. The Government had gone hue and cry a*? er large landowners, but it was not giving due attention to the -larger and wealthier brewers who owned most of the hotels; Dealing with the. petrol tax, he said the Government was laying itself- open to the charge that it was demanding revenue from the motorists -without gmyan toeing. :them. an assured ,place in the. sphere, of transport.. It - would have been wiser to have brought down the petrol tax and transport proposals simultaneously. Mr. Barnard mentioned that 135,000 motor yehicles in the country were used for pleasure purposes, anil; 79,000 for trade , purposes., He suggest-: -’ed thp Government , might consider the system adopted in America of having ,petrol, sold hi:different colours'for pleasnre.;a.nd trade purposes.,..This miglrt oilable different rates .of = taxation to be .charged in each case. ; >, ..Air. W. J. Broadfoot prged the development, of thq,,natural, industries of the.dominion; those that might be called semi-.primary industries. Much might be done in the way of carbonisation and pulverisation of coal. He thought the time was at hand when the derating of farm lands would have to be faced. He considered cheaper wheat/was an important need, and if it could not be produced more cheaply locally it should be imported and New Zealand should in return stimulate the export of specialised foods. Referring to z film taxation he said ,he was of the opinion that the big American film firms had in the past been escaping their fair share of income taxation in New Zealand. While he welcomed any foreign firms seeking to do business in New Zealand, he considered they should be placed on the same basis as New. Zealand business people, and he .be.lieyed the next tax on films would achieve That aim. • ... DUTY ON MOTOR TRUCKS. Because transport expenses entered very largely into the cost of living and the cost of production, Air, Broadfoot said he believed consideration should be given to the taxation of motor tracks. He mentioned that while there was no hesitation in taxing foreign cars in Britain, no duty had to he paid on trucks. He expressed the opinion that the time had come for a State lottery in New Zealand, and he hoped subsequently to be able to place a motion to that effect before the House. It would be preferable to have “a Tattersails for New Zealand” rather than to have the people sending large sums annually to Tasmania.

Mr. F. Waite took the Minister of Internal Affairs to task for stating cavalry was out of date. He said that if the Government was going to sell New Zealand’s stores of saddles and ammunition it was an even worse Government than he had thought. Everyone who read the publications of the day must realise that the armament race between Italy and France was proceeding as fast and as dangerously as that between the nations in Europe prior to 1914.

Mr. Waite opposed the completion of the South Island main trunk railway, and urged the-Government to give full consideration to modern transport developments owing to the competition of motor-cars and buses. : Hundreds of miles of railway • track had to be torn up in the United States, and it was such a line as it was proposed to complete in the South Island that would encounter- the same competition. The Minister of Railways should not spend so much time trying to discredit the railway workshops; he should endeavour to obtain competent opinions on the advisability of undertaking any further railway construction, and he should put people on Garratt engines who would make them go as they could be made to go.

Mr. Waite complained of the lack of notice that had been given in regard to the closing of the rolls for the Invercargill by-election. There had been an announcement in the evening paper published at 4 p.m. stating the rolls wouid close at 6 p.m. the same day and no notice at all had been published in the morning paper. He wae going to oppose th. l taxation on behalf of the people he represented even if it did. result in the Prime Minister not going to the Imperial Conference. Mr. W. Nash said in the past the efficiency of labour and production in New Zealand had been impaired by the faulty distribution of wealth. Three essentials of production were natural resources, labour and capital. He believed there was no need for pessimism. There wa« every ground for confidence in the Dominion’s natural resources and what was required was re-organisation of labour on an efficient basis with due regard for modern developments in machinery and methode. The resources of the country if properly utilised were sufficient to provide a Ipmic wage for all workers engaged in useful work. If it was sought to advance the interests of the country pensions and family allowances should he increased and widened in operation, and he believed a comprehensive scheme could be financed by an increase in income tax. Mr. H. G. R. Mason &aid the Government should devote more energy to the development of the secondary industries and should adopt a more active policy of advertising New Zealand goods and manufactures. The publicity at present given was very poor and unfortunately the consumers had come to regard "imported” and superior as synonymous terms. Wine-growing was one of the many, industries that could be developed

in New Zealand and could employ a large number of men. The debate interrupted by the arrival of the time fixed for the adjournment of the House (midnight). Mr. Coates asked the Prime Minister whether he was prepared to inform the House of tho discussion held between the leaders of the three parties this morning. It was apparent the debate wculd not last much longer and he asked whether the Prime Minister would let the House know what course it was necessary to follow in order that New Zealand would have a representative at the Imperial Conference. Air. H. E. Holland said he had not understood the conversations on the subject had been finalised. He suggested the Prime Minister should make his statement next day. Mr. Forbes said” it was intended if the debate finished to-morrow to take the first item on the Estimates. It would then be possible to take the debate on Imperial affairs on Monday afternoon. With regard to the point raised by Afr. Coates, he would make a statement. to-morrow after there had been a further opportunity for discussion.