DAY IN PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 83, 4 October 1940, Page 6

DAY IN PARLIAMENT

FINANCE FOR WAR

Methods of raising finance for war purposes were the main topics discussed by Parliament yesterday. The Excess Profits Tax Bill was introduced during the afternoon to give members an opportunity to study its proposals before next week, but apart from a short explanation by the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) it did not provoke comment.

Almost the whole of the remainder of the sitting was occupied by the debate on the war loan, war finance in general, and regulations introduced because of the war, but there were times when general finance and other matters came into' the debate. While admitting that money must be raised compulsorily for war purposes, Opposition members argued that a great deal more could have been raised in the normal way before compulsion was resorted to, and also contended that the method adopted by the Minister of Finance would cause undue interference with industry. Government members said in reply that voluntary subscriptions had been tried but the interest-free loans had fallen far short of the amount.

Just before the House rose the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) gave members in some detail a review of the growth of New Zealand's forces under the Government's programme for expansion and also of the war contribution being made by the Dominion on behalf of the Empire.

The debate was adjourned at the normal hour for rising and will be resumed, today.