SIX SPEAKERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 173, 24 July 1941, Page 4

SIX SPEAKERS

TROOPS' TRAINING

'BY-ELECTION BUDGET'

ARSENIC AND SUGAR (By Telepraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. Another six speakers, four from the Government benches, one Democratic Labour member and one representative of the Opposition, made their contributions to the Budget debate in the House of .Representatives yesterday. The feature of the afternoon session was suggestions in connection with the training of New Zealand's armed forces, made by Mr. Cotterill (Govt., WaiißanuD. who was in the uniform of the territorial forces. Mr. Goosman (Nat., Waikato) also spoke on military training, contending that considerable unrest and dissatisfaction existed in the Home Guard bec.use it had not been placed on a sound footing and linality had not been reached on" important, aspects of organisation.

The tempo of the debate quickened perceptibly in the evening, when the first speaker was the Minister of National Service, Mr. Semple, who devoted himself mainly to refuting statements made by members of the Opposition.

During Mr. Semple's speech something of a stir was caused among Government members by the ruling of Mr. Speaker that statements reflecting on members made outside the House could not be quoted inside the chamber. Statements reflecting on the Government could be replied to outside the House.

Mr. Lee (Dem. Labour, Grey Lynn) said there was a good deal of arsenic behind the sugar of the "by-election Budget." He also referred to the result of the recent Waitemata byelection, a subject which was vigorously dealt with by Mr. Osborne (Govt., Onehunga), who followed Mr. Lee, and who was campaign organiser for the official Labour candidate.