AMENDMENTS TO TENANCY BILL

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26212, 8 September 1950, Page 6

AMENDMENTS TO TENANCY BILL

HOUSE AND COUNCIL DISAGREE

UNUSUAL PROCEDURE NECESSARY

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, September 7. The House of Representatives this afternoon accepted the amendments of the Legislative Council to the Land Transfer Amendment Bill and the Magistrate’s Courts’ Amendment Bill, but two small amendments from the Council to the Tenancy Amendment Bill caused some discussion „ Th , e „ Meister in charge of the bill, Mr W. Sullivan, first suggested that one of these amendments be accepted and the other disagreed with, but Mr A McLagan (Opposition, Riccarton). objected to both of the Council’s amendments. Finally, on the motion of Mr Sullivan, both amendments were disagreed with, and the Attor-ney-General (Mr T. C. Webb) and Messrs McLagan and Sullivan were appointed a committee “to draw up reasons to be assigned to the Legislative Council for disagreeing with its amendments.”

By disagreeing with the amendments suggested by the Legislative Council the House committed itself to an unusual course. The only occasion in the last 10 years on which similar action was taken was in .946, when the present Prime Minister (Mr Holland) introduced the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill.

In the past, amendments from the Legislative Council have been inspired by the Government of the day, and were therefore accepted readily. The present Legislative Council, in its last year of office, however, has decided to suggest amendments of its own. The snec’al committee appointed by the House to draw up reasons for disagreeing with the Legislative Councils amendments to the Tenancy Amendment Bill will submit its report to the House. If the committee’s statement is approved, it will be sent by message to the Legislative Council. The reasons will then be considered by the Legislative Council, which will have two alternatives: it can either agree with the reasons, or disagree and ask for n committee of managers of both Houses to settle the issue.

The usual procedure of setting up a committee of managers was last resorted to in the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill in 1947.