PARLIAMENTARY DAY

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26264, 8 November 1950, Page 8

PARLIAMENTARY DAY

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON. November 7. Parliament’s annual task of reviewing and approving the main estimates of expenditure for all Government departments was completed this evening after 11 fitting days. The House of Representatives started on the mates on October 3. and when it adjourned at 11.50 p.m. to-day votes totalling £209.149,497 had been passed Radio serials, the broadcasting of Parliament, television, swing music, coal prices, .and the production of bananas, copra, and cocoa in Western bamoa were among the diversity of subjects discussed to-day when Estimates of departments administered by the Minister of External Affairs (Mr F. W. Doidge) and the Minister of Mines (Mr W. Sullivan) were considered. After discussing the votes lor the Department of Island Territories, the House spent much of the afternoon either criticising or praising aspects of programmes provided by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service. Comment from both Government and Opposition members bore out the statement by Mr Doidge, who is Minister in charge of Broadcasting, that the Broadcasting Service would always be a target for criticism, no matter what Government was in power. Members spoke oi the quality or the interminable length of serials, of the cost of radio licences, and of race results from Riccarton cutting into the children’s session. The encouragement of local talent was commended, however, and Mr C. L. Carr (Opposition, T'imaru) said that swing music had a place in the modern world as much as classical music. When the estimates for the Mines Department and the State Coal Mines Account were discussed, the former Minister of Mines (Mr A. McLagan) claimed that much more had been added to the price of coal than had been saved by the removal of subsidies, the increases being from 70 to 180 per cent., instead of the 30 to 45 per cent, previously mentioned. Mr Sullivan’s reply was that the abolition of subsidies had placed'the mines on a more realistic basis and the price of cbal in New Zealand compared very favourably with the price of similar coal in Australia and the United Kingdom. Before the House started on the Estimates the Deputy-Prime Minister (Mr K. J. Holyoake) and the ActingLeader of the Opposition (Mr W. Nash), on behalf of members, welcomed back the Speaker (Mr M. H. Oram), who returned to-day after representing the New Zealand Parliament at the opening of the new chamber of the House of Commons.

The sixth annual report of the Invercargill Licensing Trust and the report on higher education for last year were tabled.