At The Taxpayer's Expense

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 144, 6 July 1937, Page 9

At The Taxpayer's Expense

Our Own Correspondent.)

BUDGET POSITION Mr. Hamilton AHeges 25% Increase in Taxes BROKEN PROMISES

(From

WAIPUKURAU, This Day "At the compilation of the first Lahour Budget, about the beginning of last session, the Government was favoured with an anticipated revenue exceeding the anticipated expenditure of ahout £3,000,000. This very favourable position was realily the responsibility of the previous Government. What a glorious chance this gave the Lahour Government to carry out its election pledges with regard to the sales-tax But it didn't take that ! chance. ' ' Thus tlie Hon. Adam Hamilton , Leader of the Opposition, during his political address in Waipukurau last night. He charged the Labour Government with having broken its pledge with regard to the sales-tax, despite having had a golden opportunity to keep its word. "The Labour Party, before the last election, promised many things to the j electors," he said. "One ploa for support was the abolition of the salestax. Many people succunibed to this promise. "No party ever assuwed office in New Zealand history under such favourable Jiuancial conclitious as the. Labour Party," Mr Hamilton added. "During the slump the previous Government j had to meet the abnormal position oi ! tiie witlwlrawals i'roni the Post Office Savings Bank exceeding the deposits by £12,0(K),000 in tliree years (£0,000,DUO in one year). The finding of that money was a buge task; also, 011 oue occasion it had to meet an anticipated deficit of £8,000,000. The bridging of that debt was an euormous task. The Comparison. "Compare tho foregoing with the position when the Labour Party took office. Every department of btate was in credit. The Post Office had a record in its own experience of deposits •in the savings bank. "They could have iiquidated tlie saies-tax out of their auticipated surplus and still have had some money over. But, instead of abolisliing the sales-tax, in actual practice they liava collected £582,000 more from this source than Was eollectcd in the previous year. The main fact eincl-ging from the figures announced by the acting-Minister of Finance recently is that taxation £5,385,000 in excoss of that for the previous year has been collected. This amounts to a rise iu taxation of 25 per cent. This is tho 'actual cost to the country of a Labour Government. "The taxpayer in the past used to complain of the excessive amount of taxes. Now he is hardly saying a word, despite the 25 per cent increase. The Government has actually collected £984,000 more in taxation than it bud« geted for. Although vvithout this amount it anticipated a surplus oi £13,000, with tlns amount it had only a surplus of £472,000." As long as the Government paid its extra costs out of taxation, Mr Hamilton said, the country could not complain of the public finance if balancing at the taxpayers' expense were the test of sound finance. The significant fact about the figures was that there was no statement about Public Works expenditure, and how much had been added during the last financial year to the national debt, Mr Hamilton said he would not be surprised if round abont £7,000,000 or £8,000,000 had been added to tlie national debt during the financial year — and this at a time when export income exceeded the average export incoine in the three slump years by £22,500,000. That, with the borrowed moneys, made about £30,000,000 of extra expenditure. New Zealand at the moment was passing through a double boom: the boom of exports up by about £20,000,000, and the other of excess expenditure in New Zealand of borrowed money. These figures were very significant and should make responsible people think. It were wise, particularly in boom time, for a country to live inside its incorae; but it could not be said that the people of New Zealand were living within their incomes to-day.