BUDGET IN AUGUST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1939, Page 7

BUDGET IN AUGUST

MR SAVAGE’S ANTICIPATION WORK FOR THE COMING SESSION. DESIRE TO FINISH AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. (Bv Teleeranh—Press Association.) ' CHRISTCHURCH, June 2. The Budget is expected by the Prime Minister to De presented to Parliament in August. Mr Savage said in an interview that so far no major legislation was listed and he was hopeful that Parliament would rise some time in December. IL would be opened by Commission on Tuesday,. June 27, to enable the House to appoint a Speaker. The Government proposed to nominate Mr Barnard, who was Speaker of the last Parliament. On Thursday, June 29, an Imprest. Supply Bill will be passed. “Some amendments will be made to the Social Security Act,” the Premier stated. Small amendments have been found necessary. Of course, we discover anomalies here and there, and whenever they appear they will be corrected by amending legislation. "1 do not know at present the amendments which will be necessary to industrial legislation.. No doubt there will be some." By that time the probability was that the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, .would be back in New Zealand, and the Government w&uld be shaping its course for the Financial Statement, which would probably be the biggest tiding of the session. "We want to have the Budget introduced and disposed of as early as possible,” said the Prime Minister. "We certainly do not want to drag out the session. The Budget will be in preparation from now on, and Mr Nash will get the threads of it on his way out. We will have him armed with the main things involved. He has a remarkably good grip of them now, for this will be his fourth Budget. On fundamental principles, there are not so many people in the country who can tell him anything about it even now.”

When Mr Nash left for England it was believed that he would be able to return by the end of July. • His return was dependent on the progress he made in the Old Country. In any case, Mr Nash should be back early in August. The Budget was one -of the things that should be introduced as early as possible by any Government, the Prime Minister said. He knew the difficulties in carrying out that view, yet it was always desirable that the Budget should be presented at the earliest possible moment, because it was the real foundation of all other things. The Education Bill would be introduced by the Minister of Education, Mr Fraser, but the Prime Minister said he could not say for certain, at this stage, what was involved In it. Mr Fraser had a Bill practically prepared last session, but contented himself by having one or two comparatively small matters dealt with and holding the measure over. "The old measure of dragging the session out to December has to be discontinued,” said Mr Savage. “Here again, one cannot be dogmatic, because 6ne does not know what might crop up. Where there is no major legislation involved—or very little — really no excuse can be made for dragging the session out, and we hope to finish it as early as possible.”