REPLACING OLD HOUSES

Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1934, Page 7

REPLACING OLD HOUSES

ABSORPTION OF WOIRKLESS GOVERNMENT BUILDING SCHEMES. MR. COATES REVIEWS POSITION. RELATION TO REDUCTION IN TAX. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The part the Government’s plans foi' the replacement of old houses and its additional public works expenditure, including provision for the rebuilding of administrative blocks, will play in the reabsorption of the workless was cited by the Minister of Finance; the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, in the House of Representatives this afternoon as a partial answer to critics who claimed that the twopence reduction in the wages tax had ignored the requirements of the unemployed. In further justification of the reduction Mr. Coates referred to the substantial windfall the Unemployment Board received through the unexpected decrease in the number of unemployed for whom provision had to be made during the year. “The unemployment . tax bears more heavily upon the community than any other tax.” declared the Minister. “We knew that when it was imposed, and we said so. It bears particularly heavily, for example, on a man who earns £4 a week and who misses that four shillings which slips each week from under his eyes. It has been suggested that by reducing the tax by twopence in the shilling the unemployed Will suffer. In my judgment that is not correct.

“During the half-year over which the reduction will operate the amount involved by that reduction-will be £500,000. It is estimated that the revenue for the next year on the shilling basis would be £7,500,000. There is a surplus from last year of £1,000,000. NEED FOR. SAFETY MARGIN. Labour members: Shame. The Minister: No, if commitments are made it is wise for the board definitely to preserve itself against getting into a position of a further and unexpected charge of having to fall upon the taxpayer.

Mr. F. Langstone (Lab., Waimarino): Current income meets all of that. Mr. Coates: That is not correct.

That was not the position, he said. Commitments were estimated at £600,000 and for a greater number of unemployed. The peak of 75,000 was not reached as anticipated.. The number went down to 60,000. Thus an , unexpected gain was made by the board. Mr. Coates added. that, the Public Works vote had this year been increased by £1,000,000 for the purpose of enabling a larger number of men to be given work at standard rates of pay, and on top of that the Government had its proposals for the erection of buildings. Plans and specifications were now being prepared, and the Government Life Insurance buildings, he understood, was one of the undertakings that would be put in hand before long. He believed tenders had been called for the work.

“And the Christchurch railway station,” interposed Mr. H.- T. Armstrong (Lab., Christchurch East). “You know my opinion about the Christchurch railway station without my sayihg anything further,” replied the Minister. “Public buildings are required urgently in Wellington and Auckland, and as soon as the plans can be prepared we shall go ahead with them.” HOPES FOR HOUSING PROBLEM.

Dealing with the hopes .the Government set by its projected housing scheme,. Mr. Coates, said 'Cabinet was anxious to see the proposals brought to early fruition, but in the meantime responsibilities rested with local authorities to bring forward their proposals. Mr. W, E. Parry (Lab., Auckland Central): They have no money. The Minister: I agree with that, but I would ask have not the local bodies the same power. as the Government to go on the money market? I don’t know of a time at which they could borrow at cheaper rates than to-day. I am not advocating any wild borrowing schemes, far from that. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Co., Wanganui): The Local Government Loans Board prevents them from borrowing. ■The Minister: If any local body can put up a scheme in -which the Government can assist the Loans Board will meet all its requirements. The question has been discussed with the Loans Board, and the difficulty is that local bodies are not far enough advanced with their schemes. The Auckland City Council is a case in point. ■

Mr. Coates said the general policy was a replacement of what he would te,rm “rabbit-warrens”—houses that had served all' useful purposes. Mr. Parry: There are hundreds in Auckland.

The Minister: We should not allow the first blush to frighten Us. Let’s get down to it, local bodies, Government and Unemployment Board, and see what we can dp by replacing some of these old places. Now that money-is available at reasonable rates we want to see our people living under proper conditions. NO MORE URGENT WORK. Mr. R. Semple (Lab., Wellington East): There is no more urgent work. . The Minister: The Government feels that, too. We hope the local bodies and the Government will be able to get together and make a move in that direction. In his final references to the interrelated subjects of housing, unemployment relief and the wages tax, Mr. Coates claimed that the reduction of twopence in the tax was justified. He would like to see it lowered further as soon as conditions improved sufficiently.