POLITICAL NOTES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21423, 15 March 1935, Page 10

POLITICAL NOTES

From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, March 14. " iusiness of the House • Broadcasting was the main subect of discussion in the House of q Representatives to-day. The Broad- 1, ;asting Amendment Bill was con;idered in committee, and Govern- a nent amendments providing for i isteners' representatives on the new t 3oard, and for the loosening of re- C >trictions on station programmes, .vere introduced. The debate was j. nore lively than that on the second t reading of the bill. c A request made by the leader of ( ;he Opposition (Mr M. J. Savage) t hat the House should be given an i Dpportunity for discussion of the jnemployment problem was appar2ntly welcomed by the Government, j in view of the difficulties being ex- * oerienced with the Mortgagors Final £ Adjustment Bill, and the Prime Min- * ister's ready assent to set aside a iay for this purpose was, in the cir:umstances, significant. £ e Appointments to Boards £ A declaration that only Govern- I ment supporters were appointed to J boards set up under the various < legislative acts was n)ade by Mr R. Semple (Lab., Wellington East), j when criticising the Broadcasting ] Bill in the House to-night. 1 "The Postmaster-General knows < very well, but he will not admit it, ; that only those supporting his party 1 will be put on the Broadcasting ( Board," said Mr Semple. "There has not been one board set up which has ] been composed of any but Govern- j ment supporters." j Mr A. E. Jull (C, Waipawa): What . about the Unemployment Board? Mr Semple: That is composed of ; Government supporters and one par- i ticular Labour rat—the same as ; Mac Donald. The Chairman of Committees (Mr J. A. Nash): I cannot let that be in- : troduced. Mr Semple: All right. An interjector introduced it, and I could not let it go without a reply. Wellington Radio Station ' Information about the proposed new broadcasting station for Wellington was sought by Mr Clyde Carr (Lab., Timaru) in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr Carr asked the Postmaster-General (the Hon. A. Hamilton) whether he was prepared to announce the wavelength of the station—whether highpower, medium, or long-wave—par-ticularly as a medium wave, with a service range of from 200 to 550 miles, would not fulfil the desired purpose, while a long-wave (1000' to 2000 miles) would not be picked up by existing imported American sets. Mr Carr said that in 1927 all extra-European countries had agreed not ,to use long waves up to 1937. It was practically certain that Australia would adopt long waves in 1937, and that owing to congestion America would do likewise. Unemployment An undertaking that before the session ended members would be I given an opportunity for a discussion on unemployment, and that a ■day would be set aside for that purpose, was given by the Prime Minister, replying to a question asked by the leader of the Opposition (Mr M. J. Savage), in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr Savage said that representations were being made to members on the unemployment problem, and he considered it only right that the subject should be discussed before the adjournment. Radio Controversy "Anything of an educative or entertaining nature which is not propaganda or offensive—that is how I would define the type of controversy that should be allowed over the air," said the Postmaster-General (the Hon. A. Hamilton) during the debate on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives to-night. • Mr A. J. Stallworthy (Ind., Eden): But propaganda is often educative and entertaining. Mr Hamilton: Let any man who wants to utter propaganda go to a public hall and speak. Mr Clyde Carr (Lab., Timaru): Does that apply to the Minister for Finance? Mr Hamilton said that if a Minister gave a talk on politics over the air it would probably be regarded as propaganda; but when Ministerial statements were broadcast it was simply a method of giving out information. Amendment Accepted An amendment added to the Companies (Bondholders Incorporation) Bill by the Legislative Council was agreed to by the House of Representatives to-day. The Minister for Finance (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) explained that the amendment dealt with the privacy of the proceedings of the Bondholders Commission. Originally it was provided that no report of the proceedings was to be published in any newspaper save with the consent of the commission. The amendment removed the words "in any newspaper," and made the prohibition general. Select Committees The attitude adopted by the Government toward the recommendations of select committees of the House of Representatives was criticised by Mr W. E. Parry (Lab., Auckland Central), when a report : from the Mines Committee on a ■ miners' petition was under discus-

sion in the House to-day. The hope was expressed by Mr Parry that beiore the Prime Minister left for England next month, the reports on petitions dealt with by committees would be considered. He said that petitions dealing with miners' phthisis cases had been before the House for years, and they had been rejected by the Government after receiving favourable recommendations from the Mines and Goldfields Committee. Members of the committee felt that their recommendations were entitled to some respect from the Government, and that they should not be withheld and pushed aside for officers of-the department to deal with. The Minister for Pensions (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe) said that the Miners' Appeal Board dealt with cases relating to miners' phthisis. If the appeal court reported that there was no evidence of phthisis, the Government had no option but to accept the finding. All the petitions,