PUBLIC WORKS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20908, 13 September 1939, Page 9

PUBLIC WORKS

HEAVIER EXPENDITURE i CURRENT YEAR’S PLANS REVIEW BY THE MINISTER REPORT TO PARLIAMENT (Special to Times.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday The gross expenditure from the Public Works Fund in the year 19381939 amounted to £21,091,543, of which £5,741,099 was expended by other Government departments; the recoveries in reduction of expenditure amounted to £4,169,654, of which £1,262,076 was recovered by other departments; the net expenditure totalled £16,921,888, of which £4,479,023 was expended by other departments, states the annual report of the Public Works Department, which- was submitted to Parliament to-day. In addition, the department collected £1,703,366 for the supply of electric energy, irrigation receipts and miscellaneous revenue from other sources. Of the net expenditure of £16,921,888 previously mentioned, £12,234,412 may be regarded as having been expended from loan moneys (£9.168,812 general purposes account, £390,000 electric supply account, and £2,675,600 main highways account), the balance, £4,687,476, being expended from revenue and taxation. General Purposes Account In regard to the ways and means of the general purposes account of the Public Works Fund the position is as under: —Balance available April 1, 1938, £153,860 add funds received during the year—Finance Act (No. 2), 1936, section 2 (public works), £2,580,355; Finance Act, 1937, section 11, £6,000,000; Finance Act, 1938, section 2, £1,041,924; miscellaneous, £125,772: £9,748,051 ; total £9,901,911; deduct expenditure during 193839—Under annual appropriations, £9,168,812; under permanent appropriations, £94,225: £9,263,037; balance available March 31, 1939, £638,874. The estimated net expenditure under the general purposes account for the current financial year is £13,161,000, and arrangements are being made with the Minister of Finance to provide the necessary funds. This is the amount shown on the Public Works estimates, " which also show an estimated net expenditure of £1,840,000 from the electric supply account and £5,267,200 from the main highways account, a lotal for all these accounts of £20,268,200. For the current financial year 193940 a sum of £*750,000 will be provided from the Consolidated Fund for expenditure on maintenance of public works and services. The expenditure on main highways from revenue is estimated to reach £2,787,000 and from loan moneys £2,480,200. It is estimated that approximately £141,486 revenue from the electric supply account will be available after providing for sinking fund, interest and operating expenses for expenditure on construction works, the balance of the year’s construction programme under this heading—£l,273,6oo—will be raised by way of loans. For Other Departments The proposed expenditure from loan moneys and revenue for votes comprised in the Public Works Fund coming under the control of other Ministers is as follows, the figures in order being from loans, Consolidated Fund, special revenue and total: Railway improvements and additions to open lines (Minister of Railways), £3,300,000, —, £700,000, £4,000,000; education buildings (Minister of Education), £900,000, —, —, £900,000; telegraph extension (Postmaster-Gen-eral), £600,000, —, —, £600,000; swamp land drainage (Minister of Lands), £14,000, —, —-, £14,000; settlement of unemployed workers (Minister of Lands), £695,000, —, £55,000, £750,000. Native Land Settelment (Minister of Native Affairs), £675,000, £400,000, £275,000, £1,350,000; defence (Minister of Defence), £2,000,000, —, —, £2,200,000; totals, £8,384,000, £400,000, £1,030,000. £9,814,000. The above figures (£9,814,000), plus those shown in the summary of votes under the control of the Minister of Public Works (£12,634,200), plus permanent appropriations under highways (£332,800), amount to £22,781,000. In the Budget an additional £1,136,000 was shown under the heading of “financial programme” for the following works and services not included above: Land for settlement, £260,000; State forests, £650,000; State coal mines £45,000; and iron and steel industry, £IBI,OOO. Electrical Supply The capital invested in the electricsupply systems operating throughout the Dominion totals £37,367,664, which includes £16,364,603 of Government expenditure. The gross revenue received for the year was £6,296,326. After paying working costs, interest, sinking fund (except in the case of Government expenditure on which sinking fund is payable out of profits), and depreciation charges, the net profit for the year under review was £1,126,936, as compared with £878,594 for 1938, which indicates that the electric-supply business as a whole is in a healthy condition. The average revenue received by the Government for each unit sold was 0.358 d, compared with 0.366 d for last year. The average revenue per unit "sold by all the retail supply authorities to consumers throughout the Dominion was 0.982 d. This is the first occasion on which the average revenue received has come below the penny, and is worthy of special mention. In 1925 the figure was as high as 2.12 d, and even in 1935 it was 1.17 d. When we realise that even in Great Britain, where the density of population is very much greater, and where even yet many sparsely-populated sections have not been supplied, the average return per r unit sold was in 193.8 over 1.3 d in New Zealand currency, there is no question but that we can justly claim success for our various electrical undertakings. The net expenditure for last year in

the various classes of buildings was: General Government buildings, £807.644; courthouses, £34,8G8; prison buildings and works, £7656; police stations, £77,745; post and telegraph buildings, £280,'9*51; mental hospital buildings, £12'8,8'39; health and hospital institutions, £88,099; total, £1,425,802. The net expenditure on settlement and other roads for the year ended March 31, 1939, amounted to £1,290,838, compared with £1,126,757 for the preceding annual period. Animal Research In pursuance of the Government’s policy of providing better and increased facilities for research the erection of new laboratory buildings at the Ruakura and Wallaceville animal research stations was put in hand during the past financial year. It is anticipated that both buildings will be ready for occupation within the early future. The new laboratories embody modern ideas in lay-out, and the facilities that will be available will be appreciated by officers whose work in the past has been so greatly handicapped in this respect. The Government is appreciative of the fact that the accommodation and facilities at both stations are still somewhat inadequate, and consideration Is being given to the extent and nature of the extensions that will be necessary at Ruakura to cope with the expansion of investigations at that centre, and to the provision at Wallaceville of facilities for the study of additional problems in animal diseases and nutrition. A commencement has also been made with a programme of work designed to extend and modernise the staff and trainees’ quarters at Flock House, which a short time ago was acquired by the Government. The work already undertaken comprises the erection of new staff.quarters, and tiie provision of a new kitchen and dining-room, which will allow of the original Flock House building being remodelled and converted into dormitories for the trainees, whose sleeping quarters were far from satisfactory for an institution of this kind. The expenditure on telegraph extension by the Post and Telegraph Department during the past financial year in respect of telephone, telegraph and radio facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £575,943, against £312,260 for the year ended March 31, 1938. The number of telephone connections continues to increase at a rapid rate, the net gain in subscribers during the year totalling 9755, compared with 9710 for the previous year. The grand total of telephone-stations in the Dominion on March 31 was 206,216, which is 14,197 in excess of the previous year’s figures. The net expenditure on native land settlement from the Public Works Fund for the year under review was £493,095, compared with £254,827 for the previous year. The gross expenditure this year was £1,166,103, against £814,135 last year. The difference between the gross expenditure and the net capital expenditure this year—£672,4o-B—is represented by grants from the Employment Promotion Fund, £415,000, and farm receipts from native lands in course of development and settlement totalling £257,408.