COST OF STATE DELEGATIONS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22195, 11 September 1937, Page 7

COST OF STATE DELEGATIONS

Questions Asked In Parliament FULL DETAILS SOUGHT CFrom Our Parliamentary Reporter.! WELLINGTON", September 10. Question time in the House of Representatives to-day gave opportunity for a barrage of inquiries to the Government on a diversity of subjects, \s\xt easily the keenest interest was excited by question and counter-ques-tion oil the expenses incurred by State delegations on overseas trips. From time to time there has been controversy on this point in the House, and it was expected that the very first opportunity would be taken by the Opposition to put an inquiry about the cost of Labour delegations. Mr S. G. Holland (Nat., Christchurch North) opened what might prove the first shot in a long controversy, when he gave notice of his intention to ask for a return showing the name and official position of each person in the party of the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W. Nash), and the total cost to the Government of the entire tour including the honoraria,, wages, and salaries of all members of .the party during their absence from New Zealand and any other costs which might reasonably be considered as expenses of the tour. Introducing what has become a hardy annual, Mr H. S. S. Kyle (Nat., Riccarton) raised the question of lifting the present embargo on the arrival of stud stock direct from Great Britain. He asked the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) whether, "in view of the great importance of the export of our primary • produce to Great Britain, the expressed opinions of veterin-i ary officers of the Department of Agriculture, and the desire of the majority of our stud breeders of stock in this Dominion, the Government will lift the g resent embargo on stud animals from *eat Britain. Local Legislation In another interesting question, Mr T. D. Burnett (Opposition, Temuka) described as an extraordinary anomaly a situation where local authorities are unable tn meet the cost involved in the preparation of special legislation out of their general funds. He asked the Prime Minister to take steps to remove the anomaly under which, he said, county councils and other local authorities in promoting special legislation, such as river control powers, were debarred by audit f-om paying the expenses out of the general fund, but had to do so from unauthorised expenditure, and where that fund was insufficient, councillors had had to pay the balance out of their own pockets. Mr Burnett nuoted the Ashburton County Council and the Tekapo Rabbit Board as the two latest cases in point. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary in Charge of Housing (Mr J. A. Lee), evidently speaking impromptu, then asked, as members laughed loudly, for a return showing the -amount of expenses on the last tour undertaken by the previous Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. G W. Forbes), together with the amounts paid to all his attendants in honoraria, travelling expenses, etc. There was also a good deal of laughter in the House when a question was asked by Mr Clyde Carr (Govt., Timaru) about the policy of the National Party. He asked the Prime Minister "Whether from information obtained abroad he could inform the House when the House and country may expect a statement of policy from the Leader of the Opposition." Authority for local bodies to give relief to ratepayers unable to meet their rate payments on the due date was sought in a second question asked by Mr Kyle. He asked the Prime Minister whether the Government would bring down early legislation to give relief to those ratepayers who, through their inability to pay their rates on the due date, would be saddled with the 10 per cent, penalty. At present. Mr Kyle said, local authorities had no power to remit payment of such a charge, or any portion of it, or to postpone the penalty for such time as the authority thought fit. The financing of farmers with a view to encouraging them to build houses for married farm workers was subgested by Mr C. H. Burnett (Government, Tauranga). He suggested that the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) should consider a mortgage plan that would give the State priority at low rates of interest over an extended period of time after giving the first mortgagee, if any. an option to borrow money on the same terms. A request that the report of the guaranteed price committee that advised the Government on the guaranteed prices for butter and cheese exported during the current dairying season be tabled was contained in a question by Mr W. J, Poison (Nat., Stratford). Information about the amount paid by the Government for the purchase of the firm of Picot Bros, was sought by Mr W. P. Endean (Nat.. Parnell). He asked for a return showing the sum paid by way of goodwill, as well as any other relevant terms of the transaction.