TAXATION OF NEW ZEALANDERS IS ABOUT 10/- IN £

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 32, 31 August 1949, Page 3

TAXATION OF NEW ZEALANDERS IS ABOUT 10/- IN £

Wellington, Tuesday. The assertion that taxation today was equivalent to about ten shillings in the pound of the taxable income of the country, was made by Mr W. Sullivan (Bay of Plenty) in a criticism of the Budget during the debate in the House of Representatives. He said the Minister of Finance said to the people:— “We want you to produce more, so that he will get more,” which means “the more old Strawberry gives the more he strips her, and the more he takes from her.” Primary production had gone up about. one per cent per annum since the Labour Government came into office, 30,000 workers had left primary industries, and gone into secondary industries, where conditions were more favourable. In the Budget, the Minister had set forth that the administration of the country was costing 3s 3d in each £ of revenue, which amounted to £2O million or equal to Is 3d in the £. It took about one-sixth of the taxation of the average individual to run the affairs of the country. Would Not Lend Mr Sullivan said he doubted whether America, a capitalist country, would lend dollars to Socialist countries for socialising and nationalising industries. If New Zealand could get capital from the United Kingdom or America into this country to develop its industries, it might get somewhere The Government would not have to tax people so heavily to find the money it required then. If American capital could be interested in taking a share of the Murupara pulp and paper project, we would not have to worry about its success. The greatest joke he had 1 ever read had been a statement from the Minister of Finance in London that he was returning to this country to urge the people to buy more from the United Kingdom.. Under the Minister’s policy during the past 10 or 12 years, people had been prevented from getting goods from Britain and £52.5 million had been knocked out by that policy. To take more goods from Britain, New Zealand might have to borrow sterling funds. New Zealand had a great opportunity to go out for the increased production of food for export to Britain.

Many New Farms Many new farms could be established in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas if the Government tackled the problem in the. right way. There were 370,000 acres of suitable land in this area; 223,000 held by the Crown, and 147,000 by Maoris. Within one hour’s drive of Rotorua, there were 30,000 acres of improved lands which could be subdivided into 100 farms today. Opportunity should be given those people who could develop land. There were more acres of Maori land developed and in good pasture than there were Maori settlers ready to go on them. Very few Maoris had farms of their own.

The present tenure offered no security and the conditions imposed had broken the hearts of many Maori settlers. Maori farm training schools should be established in places like Rotorua, where there was an enormous area of undeveloped Maori country.