THE WEEK IN THE HOUSE

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26196, 21 August 1950, Page 6

THE WEEK IN THE HOUSE

Alternative Second Chamber

COMMITTEE MAY SOON BE CHOSEN (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, August 20. Now that the Legislative Council has passed the bill abolishing an institution which has been part of New Zealand’s Parliamentary system for nearly a century, the way is clear for the setting up of the joint committee of both Houses that is to search for an alternative second chamber. The committee, which will probably consist of seven members from the Legislative Council and seven from the House of Representatives, is expected to be appointed this week immediately aftef the Legislative Council Abolition Bill has received the Royal Assent'

Whether the committee can find an alternative to the present Council remains to be seen. The Prime Minister (Mr Holland) does not think it can and some of his colleagues do not see the need for a second chamber. But there is little doubt that the Legislative Council representatives on the joint committee will do their utmost to find a satisfactory alternative. Some of them may be new members, but that -should not make much difference, as nearly all except Mrs A. L. Weston have expressed the belief that some form of second chamber is necessary. What is certain, however, is that the joint committee’s task will be long. As it may have tn carry on after the Legislative Council goes out of existence on January 1 next year, the Upper House members will have to be given some legal standing. The Leader of the Council (Mr W. J. Polson) has said that this will be done, and the necessary legislation is likely to be included in a finance bill towards the end of the session.

Although the Upper House has only a few months left to function as a legislative body, its members are not likely to remain idle. They will have to consider all the bills sent on to them from the Lower House, and old councillors will probably do their best to demonstrate that a second chamber serves a useful purpose in examining and revising legislation. New members, particularly the lawyers among them, are likely to have their say about certain bills, and old members who do not support the Government will certainly , contest controversial measures. '

Busy Upper House Since the beginning of this month, • when the Legislative Council Abolition Bill first appeared there, the Upper House has been particularly active. Apart from the passing of four local bills it has spent nearly all its time on the measure for its extinction. When Mr Holland made four additional appointments last month to the Council, all the hopes that the old guard had of at least modifying the bill in some respects disappeared. But they put up a good fight, led by Sir William Perry ana Mr J. T. Paul, who is not a Government supporter. As a last rearguard action the old members called for a division on the third reading of the bill and were beaten by 26 votes to 16. All the new members honoured the understanding or agreement that they should vote for the abolition of the council. Among the 10 absentees, three—Mr H.. G. Dickie, Mrs E. M. Gould, and Dr. O. C. Mazengarb—favoured the abolition of the Council. Six—Messrs A. Campbell. J. Ryall, J., A. Hanan, and W. Lee Martin and Sir William Perry —opposed the abolition. Mr F. Waite has been unable to attend the Council this session because of illness. To traditionalists the passing of the Legislative Council Abolition Bill was a historic event. But there were only five people in the public galleries at the time. They were the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Fraser), who is the “Father” of the Lower House, having sat there continuously since 1918, three Labour members, and a woman. The Clerk of Parliaments (Mr C. M. Bothamley), however, realised the importance of the occasion and exercised his right to present the bill at the Bar of the Lower House, thus reviving a custom that had not been observed’ for 15 years and was new to many members, including the Prime Minister. Mr Bothamley is expected to repeat the procedure when the Legislative Council has passed its last bill. Uneventful Week in Lower House Except for a late sitting of more than nine hours on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill, interrupted briefly in the ear.'.y hours of Wednesday morning by Mr Holland’s announcement of the birth of a daughter to Princess Elizabeth, last week in the House of Representatives was uneventful. But it Was a productive week. At least 15 bills, including one local bill, were passed. Nearly all the minor bills on the order paper at the beginning of the week have been cleared out of the way in preparation for the Budget debate, which will start on August. 29 and may last three or four weeks.

This week the House may reach one of the two highly controversial bills set down for a second reading—the Electoral Amendment Bill and the Political Disabilities Removal Amendment Bill—-before Mr Holland presents his Budget on the evening of August 24. As the normal hour of the House on Tuesday may be delayed because of the State luncheon in honour of the Australian Prime Minister (Mr R. G. Menzies), and replies to questions will be taken on Wednesday afternoon, the prospects are not bright. When Mr Holland presents the Budget the House will not begin its sitting until 7.30 p.m. After he has read what is more correctly described as the Financial Statement the actual e on will be adjourned until 7.30 p.m. on August 29, when the former Minister of Finance. Mr W. Nash, is expected to be the first speaker for the Opposition. Normally the reading of the Budget can be expected to take about two hours, and any Minister of Finance A a strain. Mr Holland has had a slight cold for some days, and there has been a bottle of cough mixture on his desk as well as pens and papers. But his cough has almost disappeared, and he should be his usual vigorous self when he produces the document that everyone has been waiting for on Thursday evening.