A POLITICAL REVERSAL

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1930, Page 15

A POLITICAL REVERSAL

QUEENSLAND’S NEW POLICY. MOST PRUDENT OF STATES. Queensland for many years was a Labour-ruled State. During some of these years it was Labour’s- last strong- . hold .in Australia. Latterly it. has slipped from the grasp of Labour. But with New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and th© Commonwealth all under Labour’ Governments whose names are constantly in the papers, the . world is apt, to forget that latter-day Queens-.’ land is a sample of. non-Labour rule. That is to say, the Moore Government dates from the Same year (11028) as New Zealand’s United. Government. The Moore Government is a few months older, having gained, office in the Theodore State as a result of the general ©lection of May, 1928 The Moore Government quickly set out on a ’policy of financial and industrial reform. “The finances of Queensland (writes the Queensland correspondent of a Melbourne paper) were in a deplorable condition, the result of extravagance in administration, of heavy losses in an attempt to establish social? istic enterprises, of gross inflation of personnel in the public services, a form of nepotism which has been made somewhat more than a common scandal, of; heavy borrowing to keep men in employment under awards of the Industrial Court, of economic conditions quite imi possible for profitable production, and lof the distressful conditions of one of I the worst droughts in pastoral history. “The auditor-general of Queensland 'points out that the State,enterprises to : tjnne 30 last showed a total net loss of £1,868,339, and their indebtedness to the Treasury was then £1,532,832. The loss on the State stations alone was I £1,669,803. But the figures to June 30 |do not close the chapter. Losses oh what < may be called expenditure from, revenue [account have to be added. The loss in [all will exceed £2,000,000 in the most ! favourable circumstances. But there was not only the capital loss to be faced, i The current working expenses were nop covered by profit, and the logs was piling <

up. -It required a spirit of strong determination to realise on these corrupting enterprises at a time of general depression and to cut the loss, but that was done. Current, losses have ceased to trouble, though there is the blister of an interest bill to pay almost in perpetuity. : “To accomplish anything approaching an equilibrium in the accounts of the State it was clear that stringent economies would be necessary. The Government took office with a falling revenue at a time when the effect •of the world-wide depression was becoming manifest. In 1915, when Mr. W. H. Barnes went out of office as Treasurer on the accession, to power of the Labour Party, the’ Queer-land railways were showing a credit balance after having paid working expenses and interest. When h© returned to the Treasury in 1928 there were accumulated deficits in the Railways Department of mor© than £16,000,000, and these were being increased at th© rate of more than £1,500,000 a year. At the close of the first year of office of the Moore Ministry there was a Treasury deficit of £723,184, inclusive of that upon the railways. Thus it-will be clear that the Premier and his colleagues had to face a very serious position. “Queensland faced the task of balancing accounts in conformity with the Premiers’, agreement of August last and the Treasurer (Mr. Barnes) brought down a Budget framed to show a surplus of, £3268 at the close of the financial year. He proposed additional taxation, to. give £727,000 as follows: Increase in income tax, maiply by reducting, the. exemption, to £l5O, £600,000; increase in succession duties, £85,000, and increase in betting stamp duties, £42,000. Then came the economies, mainly, within the public service, including the Police and Railways Departments. These, originally stated at £660,000, will amount to about £1,000,000. That figure has been endorsed by the’ Premier.” Jt will be noted that while the Federal Labour Government has been loth to use the. pruning knife, Queensland has applied it. While tlj© New South Wales Labour Government, reversing the ' Bavin policy, is trying to restore the : shorter week (44 hours) and to keep the State railways under the Arbitration Court, Queensland has been quietly mov-

ing in the opposite direction. The correspondent states:—- . , . ’ “The economies in the public service have been accomplished by resolute action. All Government servants were taken temporarily from the jurisdiction, of the Arbitration Court and placed entirely under the control of their employer—th© Government of the State. Mr. Moore recognised that to harry but tho Premiers’ agreement , the Goverpment must hot be , dependent upon the decisions of a Court. It was a matter of Government responsibility and- honour. The clerical staff of th© service has retained some privileges as to hours,. but -the public holiday' system, which . had become an ahsufdityy- was aid there was a ‘tightening up’ generally. In the Railways Department th© 48 hours’ week was restored, many, privileges were curtailed, and the basic wqge was taken to the .Court and reduced. 'Probably the Premier apd the Tfeajurer have anxious days before them in solving problems apd realising estimates of revenue, but it is rpcognised almost without dispute that the Situation has been faced with courage and’ good statesmanship, $ n d that there is. a.; reasonable prospect of working out fiscal salvation at any rat©, before, the close of 1931-32. ..- “Tfie industries of the 1 Stpte wpre being strangled by Arbitration -Cpurt awards. One of the first steps by the new Administration was to. suspend-the Rural Workers’ Award, which prescribed factory conditions- for farms with wages ratps that th© industry could nop pay. No protest against -th© action was made by the workers, and within a fewjmonth? 2600 farm apd general hands were-taken put of , the ranks' of the unemployed. These people were .transferred from being a tax 1 on the community, and from the indignity and suffering of unemployment, to steady work at reasonable pay, with living conditions as good as th® farmer epjoys. Then, later, the slump in tha sheep industry had tp b© the lower price of wool and th© vast surplus of sheep for. disposal at’ tttiprpfitable rates -and the awards.fpr statics hands, except in ghearipg, w©r© suspended with a reduction of w'ages equal to 33 per cent. This again enabled large numbers of men to find work Td'the credit of the Australian Workers’ Union, it may be paid til® ssituhtidn was accept- , ed as an inevitability.”