AUSTRALIAN FINANCE

Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1925, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN FINANCE

COST OF GOVERNMENT. SYDNEY. is. Sonic amazing figures concerning llm a last a.I ailministiatiaiii of the whole of tin' ('oiiinaiuwealth are a-oniaineal in fin' annual financiii! ri'porl of llieCommouwealth .Statistician (.Mr U. If. Wiekensa for 192,3-21. which was issued this week. The cost of govcriiii'.ent was CC5,315,77 I, or imarly i’3.50(1,000 tnoro Ilian it lies ever ]ireviously cost. The most expensive department, was that of the Roslniaster-General, which ul,sorbed L’9,273,191. The ’rreasury. next on the list', cost L'3,034, ISO.

The expenses oi' Parliament amounted to oI which .Ministers' allowance* accounted for e Id,')()!), Senators’ salaries :{I2. and those of members id the House of I’cpl'exentatives, C7(.'!d!t. Parliamentary oflieers and stall' cost Ct!l.llss, while travelling of members and ‘‘others” was responsihle for the expenditure of C2(.1,2f)d. The Prime .Minister’s Department, which wits established during Mr Hughes’ regime, constnned Cl .HP I, lid I the largest item hoi no L'd I‘J.dld, which represoiited the interest anti sinking fund on Commonwealth .securities. The expenditure on immigration was Ctio.STib, hilt the item “niiseellaneous” in the Prime Minister’s Department's expenditure aeeonnted for L'dd.'i/iSti. Over L’.’! 1.000 was spent as Australia’s share of the maintonanee of the .Seerelariat of the League of Nations. For the administration of the Trade and Customs Department C1,027,51S disappeared from the Commonwealth coffers, hni the huge revenue from the tariff is set against the Customs expenditnre.

Close on C 1,000,1100 was needed for Commonwealth defence, hnt in addition to this the Navy Olliee cost C2.OS-1.-l l!l, and Air Services C222.tr>". I he ('iitianuinveislih deht, at the end of the last financial year, stood at i CI Ci.iitltl.noO. of which Cl 12.A21.dfH was owed to.-London and 1'27.'i,b77i.70.'> to Australian lenders. One of the features of the Federal Mimsl rv’.s legislative programme during the present session which opened on Wednesday of last week, is its linancial measures, it is expected that the Treasurer (Dr Pace) will have a surplus of about CO.7)00,000 from the current year’s financial operations. The question vhieh is agitating the public mind is. What elfect will liiis surplus have on

-I o finances for I !2T-2d|( j. s varionsy stated that the Federal income taxation will he further reduced, with a view to. the Commouwealth’s eventual • vacuation of the field of direct taxation, and that the taxation trill remain •is it is at present, with the idea of irodticiug a surplus attain, to he devot’d to reduction of the public deht. That is Dr. Pace's intention in regard o the current year’s surplus, which vas mainly produced from Customs reeipts hut so far he has given no deiinte utilis ation of w hat the public i•• oping will happen reduction of in mile .taxation.