PARLIAMENT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 14, 27 October 1932, Page 3

PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

DEBATE ON THE BUDGET.

(Abridged from Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 26

In introducing the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill (No. 3) in the House of Representatives this afternoon, Mr R. McKeen (Labour, Wellington) said the object of the measure was to meet a number of anomalies which had arisen as a result of the passing of last session’s Act. The position at present was that, on parties failing to reach agreement and declining to\ refer the matter to the Court, the award became cancelled. The Bill provided that before and award could be cancelled, a ballot should be taken .among employers to determine whether they desired cancellation to take place. Mr McKeen said that in some instances when the parties had failed to reach agreement and declined to refer the matter to the Arbitration Court, -the old award had been revived. The existing law left it in the hands of a few employers to prevent agreement being leached, whereas it was likely the majority of employers were desirous of a settlement. He instanced the case of the Wellington butchers, stating that immediately after failure to arrive at an agreement, 75 per 'cent, of the employers had signed a petition under which they had revived the old award.

Mr S. G. Smith: Were not the signatures obtained under pressure? Mr McKeen: No. Mr Smith: Were not some of them threatened with a boycott? Mr McKeen: Oh, no. Mr McKeen went on to say that the position he had outlined had caused disaffection among some employers and

he considered that if his amendment was accepted it woyld be possible to bring about a more satisfactory situation. He hoped the Minister would take the matter up. The Bill was read a first time. Resuming the debate on. tlie Budget, Mr J. Hargest (C., Invercargill) said New Zealand had liiid an opportunity to set its. house in order during the war and post-war years, when producers were making enormous profits, hut nothing had been done. During the war the compelling force of patriotism would have led the people to submit to heavy taxation, and if taxation had been imposed then there would never have been a boom, and if there liad never been a boom there would never have been a slump. Legislators had unfortunately followed the line of least resistance, with a result that men who returned from the war, and young peo(ple who had grown up in the post-war years, were being asked to shoulder a burden that they could not hear. Legislators of the past had bequeathed nothing but debts to the children of the future. It was now a question as to which should suffer—the bondholders dveseas or the child yet to he horn. Ho did not hesitate to say that lie stood on the side of the child to he. Interest payments overseas should bear some relationship to the price of primary products.

Coinage. Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Ind., Egrnont) sard the report of the National Expenditure Commission was valuable to the Dominion because it had disclosed failures in administration. It should he read by every citizen. The Commission had indicated where certain savings could he made, but lie desired to remind the House of a step which could he taken by which the country could .benefit to the extent of £1,000,000. He referred to the question of coinage, and declared that sooner or later the Dominion would have to consider the advisability of minting its own coins. Control of Hospitals. Mr A. S. Richards (Lab., Roskill) criticised the recommendations of the National Expenditure Commission in respect of setting up a Board of Hospitals. He said somewhat similar recommendations had originated from the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical Association in 1926. Mention had been made in the report of the New South Wales system of control, and it had been suggested that this should be adopted by New Zealand. He said that the Hospitals Commission of New South Wales was a non-political body, with power to close hospitals, but it had closed none. Tho Commission had recommended closing some New Zealand hospitals. The power to close hospitals had never been exercised by the Australian States because Australia w like New Zealand, found there was a neverending- demand for more accommodation. Tho Commission recommended reliance upon voluntary! finance for hospitals and mode stringent control of the collection of fees, but such methods in New South Wales and Victoria had been disastrous.

Mr W. J. Jordan (Labour, Manukau) expressed tho opinion that the Government should declare a state of emergency to enable it to deal adequately with the unemployment problem. Be asserted that there were numbers of men, women, and children who wero not even able to obtain the bare necessities of life.

Mr D. MoDougall (C., Mataura), dealing with unemployment, said that while he agreed that many men were doing useful work he considered that others were doing useless work. He asked whether it was fair to ask a hoy from a shop to go out in the winter and clear flooded drains. He suggested that the Government should subsidise business concerns to enable a boy behind a counter to stay where he was.

Petrol Supplies. Mr F. Jones (Lab., Dunedin South) urged the Government to take steps to control the importation and distribution of petrol supplies in New Zealand and take action to ensure that British shipping would not be ousted by unfair competition. There should be no differential treatment in the payment.of relief workers in boroughs contiguous to cities. The debate was adjourned, and the House rose at 11.10 p.m. till 2.30 p.m. to-morrow.