I move the Second Reading of the Land Bond Bill. The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the issue of land bonds to finance all land purchase transactions pending at the date when the British Government guarantee expired. Pending cases are defined in the Bill, as regards tenanted land, as meaning holdings of which particulars have been lodged with the Land Commission before the passing of the Act and sub-tenancies on such holdings, and also holdings held under fee farm grants, etc., in respect of which applications have been received before the passing of the Act. The pending cases of untenanted land are those in which the price has been fixed or agreed on before the passing of the Act. It is, therefore, clear that this Act covers all cases which were pending at the date when the British Government guarantee expired, whether the lands were tenanted or untenanted. It is estimated that about £700,000 of land bonds will be required to finance these pending cases, but in order to allow a margin for safety the figure of £1,000,000 has been inserted in the Bill. The Bill in all other particulars follows closely the lines of the Land Bond Act of 1925, and provides that separate accounts shall be maintained for the new land bonds, and that the provisions as regards sinking fund, redemption, etc., shall be the same. I should like to make it clear to the House that this Bill deals only with pending cases and gives us power only to issue bonds to such value as would be required to finance those pending cases. With regard to the Land Bill now before the House, special proposals will be introduced in due course to provide for the issue of land bonds, and for the general provision of the finances required to operate that Act.
The purpose of the Bill is fairly clear. I do not know whether it is necessary to give any very detailed explanation of it. Section 1 is the usual definition section. I have already pointed out that this covers all the lands tenanted and untenanted in respect of which transactions were pending before the passing of the Act. Section 2 provides for the payment of the purchase moneys in new land bonds in respect of these pending transactions. This follows the lines of Section 2 of the Land Act of 1923, and provides that the purchase money in respect of any tenanted or untenanted land which is pending shall be payable to the vendors in new land bonds, and that all claims against the purchase money shall be payable in like manner. Section 3 provides for the making of advances in new land bonds, and stipulates that these are to be made by means of the issue of 4½ per cent. new land bonds. It further provides for the application of the provision in the Land Purchase Acts to the advances made under the present measure so far as redemption and advances, etc., are concerned. Section 4 follows the lines of Section 1 of the Land Act of 1923, as amended by Section 3 of the Land Bond Act, 1925, and provides for the creation and issue of new land bonds.
As I have already stated, the issue under the present Bill is limited to £1,000,000, while the Land Commission estimate is that only about £700,000 will be required to deal with pending cases. The section also provides for the redemption of the new land bonds by means of periodical drawings. It further provides that all or any new land bonds not previously redeemed may be redeemed at par at any time after the expiration of 30 years from the date of the passing of this Act. The usual provisions are inserted for charging the interest and capital of the new land bonds upon the Central Fund. Section 5 provides for the redemption of new land bonds and follows the lines laid down in Section 3 of the Land Bond Act of 1925. Section 6 provides for the payment by the Land Commission to the Land Bond Fund of interest and sinking fund on the new land bonds, and follows the lines of Section 11 of the Land Act of 1923 and Section 6 of the Land Bond Act of 1925. Section 7 makes provision for setting up a costs fund in connection with the issue of new land bonds. The amount of the costs fund, as previously, is 2 per cent. of the total advances. Section 8 provides that the payment of new land bonds shall be calculated to the nearest pound. Section 9 provides that in the accounts of the Land Bond Fund the transactions financed by the new land bonds shall be kept distinct from those financed by the bonds issued under previous Acts. Section 10 amends sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Act of 1923, as amended by Section 3 of the Land Bond Act of 1925. These sections provide that land bonds may be redeemed at any time after the expiration of 30 years from the date of the issue of the bonds. The operation of this provision casts an undue burden upon the administration in so far as it would be difficult to keep track of the date of issue of all bonds. The holders and the purchasers of bonds it is felt are entitled to know the date at which the bonds may be paid off. The certificates issued at present are no guide as to the date of issue. In considering this matter it is felt that the simplest procedure is to provide that all old land bonds should be redeemable at par 30 years from the cessation of the British guarantee, that is to say, 30 years from the 18th day of December, 1932, which is the date that is specified in the section. Section 11 is merely a section empowering the Minister for Finance to make regulations for carrying the provisions of the Act into effect, and Section 12 is the short title to the Bill.