PARLIAMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 252, 23 October 1937, Page 10

PARLIAMENT

THE BUDGET DEBATE GOVERNMENT SPEAKERS REPLIES TO OPPOSITION I Per Frets Association. ] WELLINGTON, Oct. 22. The House met at 10.30 a.m. Mr W. J. Broadfoot (Waitomo) gave notice to ask the Minister of Customs if any consideration had been given or precaution taken to prevent Germany from reselling say, butter or apples taken in exenange or barter for German manufactured goods. The debate on the Financial Statement was continued by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. W. Lee Martin, who dealt with the extension of the Government’s work in the prevention and cure of disease amongst stock. He also stressed the help which had been afforded to the onion growers, barley growers, and fruitgrowers, and said that the Opposition criticism that little had been done for agriculture had better have been left unsaid.” Mr H. M. Christie (Waipawa) said that the Opposition had failed to put forward one single constructive proposal to replace what they termed the Government's retrograde legislation. Mr Christie criticised the activities of the private trading banks in New Zealand, stating that during the depression the Australian banks operating in the Dominion had used their profits here to expand credits in Australia. He pointed out that not a little of New Zealand’s increased expenditure had been on defence, whicn

had been so keenly advocated by the Opposition. The Government had set its face sternly against overseas borrowing, and he hoped to see the day when the banks in New Zealand were giving real service to the community. He did not wish, as had occurred in the past, a Government dominated by Australian banks which had operated solely m their own interests and at the expense of this Dominion. He criticised previous Governments for the high prices which had been paid for blocks of land for settlement. The only people who had received any benefit from these purchases were the Government’s own friends, but he would remind the Government that the country was still paying interest on money which had been wasted in this way by Opposition Governments. Public Works Expansion. Mr Christie said that he was looking forward to the day when Labour’s energetic Minister of Public Works would extend the programme of roads and river protection work in the backblocks. There had never been a time when local bodies were receiving more assistance than they were to-day. There had been much complaint about the so-called dictatorial methods of the Government in regard to industry, but the Opposition apparently failed to realise that conditions in industry and business were rapidly changing. A considerable regulation of industries had taken place in the United Kingdom over a number of years, and some of the restrictions imposed would be looked at aghast by the Opposition in New Zealand.

Mr R. Coulter (Waikato? said that under the present Government the gloom and doubts of the farming community had given place to a spirit of hope and optimism. They couid look forward to guaranteed security and stability, a fact which they greatly appreciated.

The unemployed in country districts had been very unfairly treated indeed by the Opposition Government, said Mr Coulter. When they had protested they had been stood down for a period of four weeks, allegedly to force them to seek private employment. It was impossible that such men at that period could get employment in rural areas, and this forced the men into the cities where higher rates of relief apy and other better conditions existed. As a result when better times came such men were quickly absorbed into industry. The result was that there was now a shortage of farm labour for which the Opposition was really responsible. He said that he would support a further use of the public credit to stabilise conditions in the Dominion industries.

Mr D. Barnes (Waitaki) said that many members of the Opposition apparently misunderstood the part played by public expenditure, and thought that if taxation for Government expenditure was eliminated altogether it would be beneficial for the country. If this were done, he would point out that we could not pay anything for education, police, pensions, or other social services. It was better, continued Mr Barnes, to tax the rich to give service to the poor than that the poor should starve at the expense of the elimination of taxation on the rich. The child of the rich man and the child of the poor man, he said, did not start off with equal chances, and it was only f»ir that the rich man should be taxed to give education to the poor man's child and even up the chances of those two children. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 1 p.m.

Taxable Capacity. Continuing the financial debate when the House resumed at 2.30 p.m., Mr D. Barnes (Govt., Waitaki), contended that it was impossible to tell when the taxable capacity of the country had been reached. As long as the standard of life of the community was high and the people were happy and enjoying reasonable social amenities, he felt sure the taxable capacity of the Dominion had not been reached. Taxation did not mean so much when it was considered what the individual had left after that taxation had been paid. He stressed the importance or the redistribution of the national wealth in a better manner than had been used by past Governments, and said that those Governments had squandered the people’s money to a tar greater extent than ever the present administration was likely to do.

Mr J. G. Barclay (Govt., Marsden) said the difference between the Labour Barty and the Opposition was that the Labour Party always placed the individual first wnile the Opposition stood primarily for the preservation of private property and proprietary rights. Labour had been accused of agitating and misrepresentation, but he was of the opinion that there was no more efficient agitator or one who used misrepresentation mere adroitly than the capitalist, who was afraid he was about to lose something. He said the Leader of the Opposition was a great pessimist and the philosophy he preached would give people the “blues.” There had been a lot of talk of huge taxation and he stated that a man with £5500 a year paid a little over £l5OO in taxation, which was £2OO more than the past Government had received. A man or company getting £lO,OOO a year paid £4OOU in taxation, but he still had £6OOO left. The State was using that £4OOO more wisely for social sei vices, etc., than the private individual could. He quoted the bal-ance-sheet of the Farmers’ Trading Company to show that the present was a time of prosperity. The company had shown a profit last year of £10,400, or 7 per cent. It had paid 5 per cent, the year before and 3 per cent, tiie year before that, and nothing at all in the year before that. He admitted that the boot trade in New Zealand was experiencing difficulty at the present time, but he added that the Opposition always had to have a rabbit to chase. They had had a “Scrim rabbit,” “orange rabbit,” and now they had a “boot rabbit.” Goodness only knew what the next rabbit would be. He admitted also that difficulty was being experienced in securing farm labour, but quoted Hansard and the newspapers to show that the same difficulty had been experienced before the present Government came into oilice. Dealing with pensions, he said this was the only country in the British Empire where war pensions had been increased. The present Budget was a remarkable one and would go down in history to the credit of the Government which had introduced it.

Mr C. H. Burnett (Govt., Tauranga) said that in view of the criticism of the Budget it was interesting to compare it with the Budget of 1921. The estimated gross revenue this year was not quite £500,000 more than in 1921, but the value of exports was over £21,000,000 greater this year. Surely, in these circumstances, it was not unreasonable to budget for £1,000,000 from graduated land tax and £4,500,000 from income tax. He pointed out that a sum of £1,688,000 was collected from the graduated land tax in 1921. The Minister of Marketing had rendered the primary producers of the country wonderful service. The criticism concerning his trip to the Old Country was to be strongly deprecated. He felt certain that the farmers appreciated what Mr Nash had done for them. Dealing with the position of the citrus fruit industry, he expressed concern at the recent importation of 600 cases of Californian lemons, and said he could not see the necessity for the importation. Mr E. J. Howard (Govt., Christchurch South) referred to the fact that his would probably be the last speech on the Budget in the present debate before the Minister ot Finance, Hon. W. Nash, replied. Mr L. J. Broadfoot (Opp., Waitomo): Not the least by any means. Mr Howard: I thank the honourable member.

He likened the country to a ship which had come through a hurricane. When the present Government had taken office the sails were torn, the rails smashed, the rudder damaged and the boats were gone. The crew was hungry, the officers were discontented and complaints came from all parts of the ship, but when Labour had taken over, all the mess of the hurricane had been cleaned up. He wished to congratulate the Minister oi Education for the way he had stepped in and helped to clear up the position which had existed in our schools and colleges. The Budget, he said, was a good one, a fact with whicii experts overseas who were not biased by party politics agreed, The Government could not be expected to reduce taxation when it had been in ofiice only two years. He said he advocated the turning over of the whole of the provincial council chamber building in Christchurch to trustees appointed under the Act, to be preserved as a national memorial to the early pioneers. The House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until Tuesday, 57 speakers having taken part in the debate up to the present.