CO129-582-7 Taxation 6-6-1939 - 5-2-1940 — Page 120

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origin l

to ask honourable members to turn their attention back to the

estimates of expenditure for 1940/41 which have been in their

hands for 10 days. As a memorandum explaining the principle

matters of novelty contained in them was circulated at the same

time I do not propose to deal with those estimates at any great

length. I fear that the innovation, for which I was responsible,

of permitting the Press to see the printed estimates with the

Council's Order of Business has led some of the papers to mis-

interpret them and the statement of Government's full proposals

may be disappointing to those who read some of the more

sensational deductions published yesterday afternoon.

have/given due prominence to one fact shown by the print, that

is that we already have the forty million budget which I spoke of

as a possibility of the more distant future twelve months ago.

Expenditure and, fortunately, revenue as well have continued to

increase automatically with the increase of population.

On a

peace basis an approximate balance was expected but the war is

likely to increase expenditure in many directions without

correspondingly increasing revenue from existing sources.

also

The Press

The estimates as printed contain no innovations in

revenue apart from the re-arrangement of the heads in more

convenient form. As to expenditure the procedure of

examination by a select committee of this Council which will

be followed this year as before will afford full opportunity

for honourable members to make any comments which they desire

and elucidate any obscurities in the details. Those

details were mainly settled before the outbreak of war,

but no necessity is seen at present to alter them at all

considerably. In preparing the final draft, a number of

items of new expenditure which it had originally been

desired to include were deleted in order to avoid budgeting

1A.

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