BUSINESS FOR SESSION

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22727, 3 June 1939, Page 14

BUSINESS FOR SESSION

MAJOR LEGISLATION NOT CONTEMPLATED BUDGET PRESENTATION IN AUGUST ♦ HOUSE TO RISE BEFORE v DECEMBER The Budget is expected by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) to be presented to Parliament in August. Mr Savage said, in an interview with “The Press” last evening, that so far no major legislation was listed, and he was hopeful that Parliament would rise some time before December. Giving the sequence of events for the session, Mr Savage said Parliament would be opened by commission on Tuesday, June 27, to enable the House to appoint a Speaker. The Government proposed to nominate the Hon. W. E. Barnard, who was Speaker of the last Parliament. The House would meet the GovernorGeneral (Viscount Galway) on June 28 to hear his Excellency’s speech to members of the Legislative Council and the House. “On Thursday, June 29, the Imprest Supply Bill will be passed. That, of course, opens the floodgates for oratory, giving members the right to speak about almost any subject. It is necessary that the Imprest Supply Bill should be passed by both Houses before the end of the month. On Friday, the House will pass motions relating to the deaths of former legislators, and will then adjourn until the following week. Mo doubt, the Address-in-Reply debate will then begin. How long, that is going to last is in the hands of the Opposition. It might go on for a week or longer—one cannot tell. Social Security Amendments “Some amendments will be made to the Social Security Act. Small amendments have been found necessary. Of course, we discover anomalies here and there, and whenever they appear they will be corrected by amending legislation. I do not know at present the amendments which will be necessary to industrial legislation. No doubt there will be some.” By that time the probability was that the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) would be back m New Zealand and the Government would be shaping its course for the Financial Statement, which would probably be the biggest thing of the session. “We want to have the Budget introduced and disposed of as early aspossible.” said the Prime Minister. “We certainly do not want to drag out the session. The Budget will be in preparation from now on, and Mr Nash will get the threads of it on his way out. We will have him armed ' with the main things involved. He has a remarkably good grip of them now, for this will be his fourth Budget. On fundamental principles, there are not so many people in the country who can tell him anything about it, even now.” Mr Nash’s Return When Mr Nash left for England it was believed that he would be able to return by the end of July. His return was dependent on the progress he made in the Old Country. In any case, Mr Nash should be back early in August. The Budget was one of the things that should be introduced as early as possible by any Government. The Pi ime Minister said he knewthe difficulties in carrying out that view, yet it was always desirable that the Budget should be presented at the earliest possible moment, because it was the real foundation of all other things. An Education Bill would be introduced by the Hon. P. Fraser (Minister for Education), but Hie Prime Minister said he could not say for certain at this stage what was involved in it. Mr Fraser had a bill practically prepared last session, but contented himself by having one or two comparatively small matters dealt with and holding the measure over. “The old idea of dragging the session out to December has to be discontinued,” said Mr Savage. “Here again one cannot be dogmatic because one does not know what might crop up. Where there is major legislation involved—or very little—really no excuse can be made for dragging the session out, and we hope to finish it as early as possible.”