WEEK’S WORK IN PARLIAMENT

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24987, 23 September 1946, Page 4

WEEK’S WORK IN PARLIAMENT

Bill Introduced In Upper House SOME PROBLEMS IN STABILISATION

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, September 22,

Last week was the dullest of a dull session in the House of Representatives and it was left to a Legislative Councillor to provide the highlight of the week. That was the introduction of the Passengers’ Rights Conservation Bill by the Hon. P. J. O’Regan.

It is the first public bill introduced in the Legislative Council since 1939, when the Hon. C. J. Carrington made his last attempt to get his Alsatian Dog Bill enacted. Mr Carrington’s bill was passed by the Legislative Council, but lapsed in the House of Representatives after the first reading. Mr O’Regan’s bill is designed to prohibit the adoption by shipping, aircraft, and surface transport operators of conditions exempting, them from liability for injury caused by negligence. Mr O’Regan said shipping companies included an exculpatory condition on their tickets. _ In the House of Representatives the week was probably the dullest of a dull session. Three days were spent on the Estimates and rapid progress was made on them, but the House did not make such good progress on the other day when the Finance Bill was read a second time and a start made on the second reading of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Amendment Bill. Most of the discussion on the Finance Bill was on the petrol tax, which at Is 2d a gallon was said by some Opposition members to be the highest in the Empire, and on the use made of this revenue the Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. W. Nash) made some concession to the Opposition, when he promised a review of road taxation next year. There were other subjects which might have been raised on the Finance Bill, but possibly the Opposition was waiting for the Committee stages to discuss these on the relevant clauses. One interesting aspect of the discussion of the Estimates was that during the temporary absence of the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser), who is Acting-Native Minister, the Hon. E. T. Tirikatene (Government, Southern Maori) was in charge of the Native votes then before the House. This is evidence that his standing in the party has become higher. Mr Tirikatene figured in an incident outside the House, when a deputation of Taranaki Maoris waited on him and on the Prime Minister to deny a statement alleged to have been made in the House by Mr E. B. Corbett (National, Egmont). According to a newspaper report of his speech, Mr Corbett said that he had attended a meeting at Waitara, where the Maoris spoke with some vehemence and that he was sure they were not proud of the Maori members of the House, especially the member for Southern Maori. The deputation denied that any Maori at the meeting had criticised the Government or Mr Tirikatene and said that it was not customary for Taranaki Maoris to ©criticise another Maori except to his face. Report on Population Members had not had time to study the report of the Population Committee before they dispersed on Friday afternoon, but its presentation did not make much of a stir. Members were impressed, however, with its logical arrangement and careful indexing. One intriguing point in the report is the committee’s advocacy of the setting up of a small economic secretariat outside the normal departmental structure and responsible to Cabinet through the Prime Minister. This sounds very like what the short-lived Organisation for National Development, wound up by the Government last year, was intended to be. Its director, Mr,, J. S. Hunter, had said that it u was based on Sir William Beveridge’s idea of an economic general staff.

The committee recommends the formation of this secretariat as a result of its population inquiry, but says: “Our investigations have shown that in several .other fields departments need some definite over-all guidance as to certain fundamental factors of New Zealand’s economy and as to the policies which are to be adopted in the future.”

The committee notes that it became very evident that each department was working to its own ideas of potential population development. There were also different idqps as to the desirable distribution of population and as to general employment policies. Mr Fraser, Mr Nash, and the Minister in charge of Stabilisation (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) were very busy last week in negotiations with farmers and school teachers on stabilisation questions. Some progress has been made, and it is likely that decisions will be reached this week. The Government has not been assisted in this work by the watersiders’ views on increased payments to the Judges. There is yet no indication when the stabilisation vote will come before the House, but discussion of this will present some difficulties to the Opposition, because the Committee of Supply discussion is limited to administration, and questions of policy are barred. The Estimates will again be taken on Tuesday, the list for consideration including health, social security, health benefits, customs, Treasury, land and income tax, and census and statistics votes.