THE WEEK IN THE HOUSE

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26262, 6 November 1950, Page 6

THE WEEK IN THE HOUSE

Debate On Foreign Affairs

government members INATTENTIVE

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON,' November 5. When the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) told the House of Representatives three weeks ago that 41 bills were being prepared for presentation to Parliament before the session ended, he said that some might have to held over until the next session. Nothing was said of how many m ta h * M dropped, but most members believe that the list will have to be pruned considerably if the session is to end early in December as Mr Holland expectf. So far only 10 bills on the list have been introduced. There are 12 othet bills on the order paper, including tue controversial Capital Punishment Bill and five classes of Estimates have yet to be approved. Mr Hollands list of bills is by no means complete, and even with regular midnight sittings from now on—which is unlikely—the House appears to have little chance of disposing of the whole programme by the first week of. December. Also there is no guarantee that all the bills mentioned will be drafted in time. If the House concentrated entirely on bills and sat late each week it might, perhaps, dispose of all that have been listed and those still unlisted but hinted at. Some already on the order paper or still to come are not policy measures and should not occupy the House for long. But others, potab.j the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill, which could produce another all-night sitting, eie likely to be contested at all stages by the Opposition. Another Imprest Supply Bill and Ministerial replies to members’ questions will reduce tne time available for considering legislation this month. There is also the distraction of the Commonwealth Par liamentary Association's conference, which some members of both the Government and the Opposition will either wish to or have to attend between November 24 and December 2. To some extent progress made by the House on legislation is governed by the ability of the Law Drafting Office to prepare it for presentation, and the speed with which select committees report baek on bills referred to them, Last week it was plain that the House, with a comparatively thin order paper was marking time again and waiting for bills from either source. Although it passed the fifth Imprest Supply Bill of the session and nearly finished the Estimates, it rose later than 11 pan. only once. One evening was devoted entirely to a full-dress debate on foreign affairs. Mr Doldge's Address Mr Holland obviously wanted the Minister of External Affairs <Mr F. W. Doidge) to have the opportunity to report as fully as possible to both sides of the House on his visit to Britain. the United States, and Canada last month, when he attended two important conferences of Commonwealth Ministers and a session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Prime Minister rightly holds the view that foreign affairs, and New Zealand's policy on international questions, are of national rather than party concern. But judging by the hearing Mr Doidge received from some of his colleagues, including members of the Cabinet, they seem to regard discussion of what goes on in the world outside the House as a waste of time. I Mr Doidge was listened to with more interest and attention by the Opposition. On the Government side several members dozed in their seats and others talked or read newspapers. Two members, one a Minister, were engrossed in a racing publication. One or two other Ministers appeared to find their own conversations with bench mates more absorbing than Mr I Doidge's speech. No doubt some of ! what Mr Doidge had to say was fanilI liar to Government members—he did I not cover much new ground. But ! their reaction to their own Minister's ! speech did not add to public respect ; tor Parliament. . Decimal Coinage System I Some members on the Government side have still not realised that they are expected to show more signs of responsibility than they did in Opposition. when Mr H. G. R. Mason (Opposition, Waitakere) introduceo his Decimal Coinage Bill at the end of last week would-be humourist! on the Government benches thought the subject was one for ridicule. There were references to "the brass razoo,” suggestions that the decimal coinage unit should be the "Rex” or the “Mason,” and Mr Mason was asked whether his system would make the £ go further. Friday morning is usually an occasion for humour in the House, and one or two Opposition members could not resist the temptation to be funny at Mr Mason’s expense. But most of the interjections came from the Government benches until the Minister of Industries and Commerce IMr C. M Bowden) stood up and told them and the rest of the House that decimal coinage was not a matter for ridicule or levity. As an accountant Mr Bowden kno vs the advantages and disadvantages of a decimal coinage system, and he did net attempt to disguise the difficulty of making changes in calculating and tabulating machines designed for what he described as "our archaic system of pounds, shillings, and pence." He could have told the House, including a Cabinet colleague who talked facetiously of "sitting on the decimal point” that decimal coinage has been repeatedly advocated for New Zealand, and has had stronger support than many people, including the Government wits, realise. _ In 1933 the Minister of Finance (Mr J. G. Coates) appointed a widely representative coinage committee to report. inter alia, on the advisability of adopting a decimal basis for New Zealand's first distinctive coinage about io be minted. The committee, of whLli the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr A. D. Park) was a member, had to recommend a continuance of the fractional system of coinage because of the economic depression and smuggling of coins from New Zealand. To effect the changeover from a fractional to a decimal system would have required about two years’ notice, and this would have been impossible in 1933. Since then a decimal system of coin age has been supported by the New Zealand Society of Accountants, the Associated Chambers of Commerce, which asked the Government in IJJti to consider its early adoption, and several heads of Government departments leading businessmen economists and numismatists, who addressed a memoiandum to the Parliamentary Monet uy Committee on the subject in 1934. Mr Mason did not expect to make a great deal of progress with his bill—a private member's bill does not have much chance at this stage of the session But he had reason to expect it would receive more serious attention than it got from any Government member except Mr Bowden.