DAY IN PARLIAMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 230, 29 September 1933, Page 8

DAY IN PARLIAMENT.

MRS. McCOMBS' FIRST SPEECH

FAVOURABLE IMPRESSION. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The feature of the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives yesterday was the first contribution to a New Zealand Parliamentary debate by a woman member. Mrs. McComba spoke in the evening to a large attendance of members and to crowded galleries. She was heartily applauded when she addressed Mr. Speaker, and she opened with pleasant references to the good relations she has already established with members, adding a smiling warning that, "a woman always has her own way." There was a complete absence of nervousness in her manner, and she gave a distinctive touch to her speech in the number of questions she raised affecting the welfare of women and children. Her utterance was always clear, and, judging by the number of unfamiliar words she used, always appropriately, New Zealand's woman member has a larger vocabulary than the average male member.

The opponents of the high exchange rate submitted a fresli amendment in an endeavour to get a free vote on this phase of the Government's policy, and if a division had been promptly taker, the Government would have been embarrassed by a narrow majority, for a number of its supporters were absent, and no pairs were available. However, the division was not reached.