BUDGET DEBATE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23288, 25 August 1945, Page 4

BUDGET DEBATE

Wartime Policy Defended

Servicemen And State Housing Statue Of Churchill Suggested 'N.Z.P.A.) WELLINGTON. Aug. 24. I The Budget debate was resumed in I ihe House of Representatives to-day I by the Hon. B. Roberts, who gave the | percentages of New Zealand products sent to the Pacific forces. Ihe Minister said enough timber j had beeh used for cases for this pur- | pose to build 2000 houses. j Mr W. Sullivan (National, Bay of [Plenty): But it was not building I timber. | The Hon. C. F. Skinner said that ■ 15.000.000 feet of building timber had I been used every year for containers. Mr W. J. Polson 'National, Stratford) said that it was a most extraordinary statement and showed little discretion cn the part either of the j Minister of Agriculture or the Minister in Charge of State Forests. Any miller | who knew his job would never waste | building timber on containers. We would use waste ends and sap timber I for that purpose. Mr Polson claimed that the Government’s policy was at fault when wool production had increased at the expense of dairy production. Europe needed wool as well as food but was unable to pay, and the producers should be told what the future prospects were so that they could shape their course accordingly.

Mr Polson, discussing taking over the Bank of New Zealand, said that many people who were opposed to monopolies were prepared to support a State banking monopoly on the case of this Government, was a sort of hooey. A long method of retaining control of private enterprise and banking control in the hand of politicians would seriously affect the future cf all of us, particularly the next generation of New Zealanders. Progressive Ideals A strong defence of the Government’s wartime administration was made by Mr p. G. Connolly (Government, Dunedin West) resuming the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives. He said now that the Govern-

ment was in a position to lay the foundations for peace economy, its efforts would be even greater." The most erroneous statement he had heard was Mr Holland's contention that the Government was not giving returned servicemen the opportunity to be selfreliant or to own their own businesses. Labour would remain in power because the people everywhere were erving out for progressive l-Tslation. The world pendulum was swinging to Labour and progressive ideals. This years Budget was the forerunner cf many more giving maximum benefi’s 'o these in need. New Zealand’s social Security benefits were now the highest in the world, and he hoped before the session was over that they would be further improved. When improved family benefits were considered he would like to see the means test removed and universal family benefits introduced.

Quoting prices for meals and other goods and services in Britain, the United States and Australia. Mr Connolly claimed that the New Zealand pound would purchase more than the equivalent amount of money in any other part of the world. Mr Connolly said that the time had come when the allocation of State homes to servicemen should be increased from 50 to 80 per cent to give returned men the opportunity of settling down in homes of their own as soon as possible. Defaulters and the Houses Housing was the greatest problem of the immediate future and we should mobilise artisans in the building trade for home building just as men were mobilised for war, with priority in building given to houses, hospitals and other structures of extreme urgency. Mr A. S. Sutherland (National. Hauraki) said that military defaulters were being released and were going into houses, while returned soldiers could not get homes. Mr W. J. Polson ‘National. Stratford): Are thev going into homes? Mr Sutherland: Of course they are. Mr P. Carr (Government. Auckland West): I think vou ought to prove that. Mr Sutherland: They are going into homes of their own '.Government laughter'. ~ , Mr Sutherland said he would keep them in camps and give their homes to returned soldiers. He would keep defaulters in camps until every man returned from overseas and then cancel their civil rights for 10 years. He said everv serviceman who had been overseas should receive tax concessions. Those who took up land should be given the freehold. TheV should be given money at the lowest possible interest and furniture loans should be doubled and exempted from sales ta Dealin°- with land settlement he said that instead of taking farmers off tne land to put returned men on. all idle land, whether pakeha. Maori or Crown, should be developed as that was the oulv wav in which production could be increased. The land development policy should go with land settlement and rural housing should be speeded up to assist land settlement. Mr W. T. Anderton iGovernment. Eden), replying to Mr Algie. said the latter had used his legal training to conceal all of the truth. He had ridiculed the Hon, Mr Langstone tor the express purpose of boosting the vested interests. That was nothing new for Mr Algie who. years ago. had resigned a professorship to devote himself to boosting vested interest-. He should always remember, however, tm.t there were in the House members who had been through adversity if not through a university, and who had schooled themselves to base their arguments on facts. Mr Anderton said the Government in the past 10 years had fulfilled its obligations to the people of New Zealand and to the world. During the whole 10 years of Labour's adnnnis tation there had been a steady increase in the Dominion's productivity and the Leader of the Opposition was talking poor economics when he said the only reduction taxation could achieve was an increase in production. A Constipated Budget Mr F. W. Doidge (National. latiranga) said that three days before tinwar ended the Hon. W. Nash brought down a Budget, providing for a full year's war spending. When the war ended the people jubilated, not only at victory, but at the thought that £105.000.000 would not all be needed for war and that the Minister of Finance would be able to revise the Budget. Instead, the Minister now proposed to spend an additional £34.000.000. “The Budget contained no hint of the Government's policy for a smooth changeover from war to peace. It was unimaginative toward the new era which obviously was coming. It was in this respect a constipated Budget. It did. however, disclose Ihe Governments intention to keen the country clamped down under rigid controls—under another form of totalitarianism—as Mr Doidge paid a warm tribute to Mr Churchill outstanding wartime leadership and suggested that a statue of him should bo placed on the slopes of Parliament Grounds while this

| greatest Englishman of al! time was I still alive. If the Government would i accept the suggestion he was certain i the necessary money would be subscribed overnight. It would be subi scribed a thousandfold and the only difficulty would be what to do with the ■ surplus money which would roll in. , but’, no dcubt. the Minister of Finance j would not be at a loss as to what to do with the surplus. i Mr Doidge said he was confident the i Prime Minister 'the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) and Mr Nash 'Who was acting as Leader of the House at the time) were too big to overlook this suggestion merely because it originated from the Opposition side of the House. Population Problem The Budget was unsatisfactory, he continued, more for its sins of omission than of commission. There was no reference in it. for instance, to the population question. How lone could New Zealand remain populated by 1 750.000 people when Asia contained millions of people with an annual increase of 20.000,000? We had witnessed the realisation of Japanese aggression, and. even now in the moment of defeat, the Jaoanese were talking of another war. New Zealand's

population was 16 a square mile, Japan’s was 500 a square mile. Javas 1000 a square mile. When the undernourished people of these densely populated countries became better educated thev might become strong military Powers and New Zealand did not want to have to depend solely on the British and United States Navies tor her defence. Yet the Government had no suggestion of an immigration policy. It was as dumb on this subject as it was 10 years ago. The Hon W. Nath: If they came here would sou ban them from Parliament as the president of the National Party would do? ~ . Mr W. Sullivan: He never said that. Mr Nash: He did. Mr Doidge said that if people were citizens of’the country he would not bar them from the Legislature. Contrasting Australia's vigorous immigration policy with New Zealand's lack of one be sii"ge-ted the reason was Trade Union pressure against admitting jobseekers. but there were ways of in-crei-ing population without raising the empiovm-.it aspect. He suggested that man-.- Nev. Zealanders would be glad to idopt war orphans, ot whom there were millions in Europe, while retired people of means, who would be no burden on the country, should be encouraged to settle here. The' House rose at 5.30 p.m. until 2.3'1