MUCH WORK YET TO DO

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22830, 2 October 1939, Page 8

MUCH WORK YET TO DO

Programme Before Parliament RESERVE BANK BILL AWAITED fFrom Our Parliamentary Reporter.] . WELLINGTON, October 1. For about the third week in succession it is now hoped that the work of Parliament will be finished by the end of the coming week, but after, the experience of the last few weeks this is still open to considerable doubt. Certainly the list of legislation that must be passed before the House rises has been notablj reduced, but for all that, there remain several bills which should not be described otherwise than as highly controversial, with the result that some long and late discussions are bound to occur before members are finally permitted to leave for their homes. . If Parliament had to deal with no more than the list of bills which have . already been introduced it would have considerably more than a normal week’s work to do. Thursday night’s protracted debate on drinking at dances, which arose out of a clause to be included in the Statutes Amendment Bill, shows what may be expected when the bill itself comes up for discussion, and there is bound to be considerable argument on the Fair Rents Amendment • Bill, which brings certain shops and flats within the scope of the legislation originally passed in 1936. Some ei.tremely controversial material is contained also in the formidable Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill, which was introduced on Fridav. It includes quite a number Of Clauses which m a >- cause considerable division of opinion, and there is a possibility that the whole of the opposition to at least one clause may not come from outside the ranks of the Government. Pome members, for instance, may wi~h to know why some section of the communitv should be exempt from paying income tax on the not inconsiderable portion of Us income which is absorbed by the social security charge. The legislation that the members and the public are most anxiously awaiting, however, is the Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, the obiect of which is to enable the Government to carry out its proposal to finance some of its war expenditure by the use of Reserve Bank credit. It is suggested that an even more drastic amendment of the present act than has been indicated by Ministerial statements is likely to be undertaken. The Minister for Finance (the Hon. W Nashl stated on Friday that the bill would probably be introduced early in the coming week. Another bill scheduled for an earlv appearance is the Primary Products Marketing Amendment Bill. So far there has been no indication of its exact purpose, but it may be presumed to deal with wartime contra] of foodstuffs, both for exnart and for local consumption. A further Finance Bill has also to come yet, and as legislation of this kind permits a wide field of digeussion, this opportunity. mar be taken by the Opposition re call attention to the features of the Government’s programme with which it is in disagreement. Everything considered, and remembering what has happened lately, it seems as though the estimate of the Acting-Prime Minister (the Hon, P. Fraser) that Pa’'liam p nt should be finished bv next Thursday is rather’ optimistic, even if the House keeps late hours.