COALITION CAUCUS TO-DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1933, Page 6

COALITION CAUCUS TO-DAY

FOUR MEMBERS NOT INVITED GOVERNMENTS TAXATION PLANS. FINAL THREE WEEKS OF SESSION EXEMPTIONS FROM SALES TAX. (By Wire— Parliamentary Reporter.) , Wellington, Last Night. The stem view taken by the leaders of the Government on the action of-tba four members (Messrs. R. A. Wright, A. Veitch, A. Harris and A. J. Stall-. worthy) who voted against it on the Labour Party’s recent ho-confidence amendment is indicated by the fact that they have not been invited to attend the Coalition caucus to) be held to-mor< row mbming. Mr. Stallworthy has' already severed his connection with the Government, becoming an independent, but the latest development shows that the other three are to be prevented from taking any further part in the inner counsels of the Coalition. It is understood the attitude adopted by the Coalition leaders is that there was some excuse for those Government members who voted with the Labour Party on the second reading of the Banks Indemnity (Exchange) Bill. Room for differences of opinion was acknowledged to exist on this measure in spite of the fact that had it failed to go through the Government would have been forced _to relinquish office. But it is held that nothing can be said to mitigate the action of any Government member who deliberately votes against his party on a noconfidence motion as such action cannot be interpreted in any other way than that those who join Labour in the dm- > sion lobbies have no further confidence in the party they were elected to support. THREE OTHERS ON THIN ICE. Three other Government members (Messrs. W. A. Bodkin, J. McSkimming • and D. McDougall) have bees , skating on thin ice lately, but all three have • been invited to to-morrow’s caucus. It is understood they are still rightly regarded. as Government members and that they do not intend to force a definite breach in. spite of differences of opinion they are known to have had with, the Prime Minister. Another instalment of the Government’s legislative proposals will be placed before the caucus to-morrow, members being acquainted with the Government s intentions for the remainder of the session, which it is now hoped to end .as speedily as possible. It is likely that exemptions from sales tax will come up for discussion, and an attempt no doubt will be made to have other items placed on the list. The Government, however, will not add to the list lightly. Merchants will have a chance of placing their representations before Cabinet within the next few days, but the whole aim of the Government is to keep the list as small as possible. Certain members of the Government hold the opinion that the Bill should be amended to provide for the. imposition of sales tax on goods delivered after February 8, and not on goods sold after that date, as stipulated at present. . .ANTE-DATED. ORDERS. This point is expected to be raised, .at the caucus and an attempt probably, will be made to secure an alteration in the wording of the Bill. There is a belief in certain quarters that some traders actually secured Orders for goods on the understanding .that the invoices would ■be dated February 7, and an amendment, is considered desirable iri. order to overcome any evasion of taxation, . . . As occurred with the administration-of the National Expenditure Adjustment Act last year, those most affected by the Sales Tax Bill are finding it almost impossible to define their obligations from the maze of technically-worded - clauses. For this reason the Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) has decided to have a simply-worded explanatory memorandum prepared as soon as possible, and this will be available for general perusal. Every effort is being made to bring the session to a close as quickly as possible, and as the Prime Minister has set a time limit of three more weeks it is certain that a great deal of legislation already introduced will be-shelved until August. The Government still intends to go ahead with the Reserve Bank Bill, but it is now 'unlikely that it will be reached before the House rises as certain intricate negotiations are still being carried out between Mr. Coates and the banks. Until these are completed the measure will not be ready for consideration by members.