MR LYON’S PLAN

Hokitika Guardian, 6 November 1930, Page 3

MR LYON’S PLAN

TO FIND EIGHT MILLIONS. (Australian Press Association.) CANBERRA, November 5. In the course of a long statement delivered in the Federal House of Representatives to-day, lion. Mr Lyons, the Acting Federal Treasurer, dis 4 closed that, there had been a serious drift iii the Common wealth finances since the Budget , was delivered last July. ‘The Treasurer also outlined the Government’s proposals for the curtailment of fexp'ehditure and for tho increasing of revenue".

Mr Lyons said that lie anticipated that, with a restoration of confidence and a revival of trade, the deficit would be between eight and ten millions sterling. He pointed out that with only eight months to go, it would not be possible to balance the ledger during the present financial- year. The most that could he achieved without undue sacrifice, was to plan the Budget on such basis that when it had operated for a full year, the ledger would lie balanced. The Government, lie said, intended to impose new revenue duties estimated to yield £3,100.000 per annum, but the sum realisable from the duties for the remainder ol this year would be only £2,000,000. There would be new income tax proposals, which would apply principally to income from property, such as interest, dividends, and rents. There would be a super tax of T* per cent, upon all incomes , including those of companies, derived from property, which tax was expected to yield £l,500, Out). There would also be an increase of five per cent, in the rate of tax on the incomes from personal exertion above £SOO, which would produce £160,000 additional revenue. Mr Lyons stated that the Federal Ministers’ salaries will he subjected to special txation at the rate of fifteen Per cent., and the salaries ol the Members of Parliament at the rate of ten per cent. The Government employees whose salaries exceeded £i2s a year/ would pay a special tax of ten per cent., and those with salaries above one thousand sterling a yeai would pay a rate of 12* per cent., while those salaries which exceeded one thousand fi\e hundred would pay fifteen y per cent. It is anticipated that tilis'tax will produce £60,000 in a full year, but only £IO,OOO for the remainder wf the • current financial year.

Mr Lyons said that the total exti'a taxation amounted to £4,820,000 in a* full year, hut the sum expected for the remainder of this year amounted to £3,700,000. ' The Government, he said, hoped to make further savings, and economics amounting to £1,230,000. It was also intended to reduce the contribution to the sinking fund by £1,050,000. These two items represented a total of expenditure reductions of £3,180,000 over a, full year. Thus the expenditure reductions and the new taxation combined revealed a benefit to the budget of eight millions sterling for a full yehr.

Mr Lyons said that the annual overseas liabilities of the Austral an Governments consist mainly Of interest and sinking fund, and amount to about thirty-four millions, while the net short term indebtedness of Australia on October 31st was £7,134,000. Declaring that financial depression and trade dullness had been accentuated since the financial pronn«Ms for balancing the Budget were determined four months ago, Mr Lyons said that there had been a serious shortage of postal receipts, and the claims 'for pen-sions—-invalid, old age and war pensions—lmd greatly increased, while the estimates for the exchange on remittances to London also would be in adequate by nearly ball a million sterling.- Wool was now averaging only about nine pence per pound, compared with Is 3d last year, and Is 7d the year before. Wheat f.o.b. Australia was now less than 3s per bushel; compared with 5s last year.