The Press MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1954. The Thirtieth Parliament

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27471, 4 October 1954, Page 10

The Press MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1954. The Thirtieth Parliament

8 The final session of the thirtieth 81 Parliament of New Zealand has 9: ended with a useful but not spec]9jtacular record of legislation, little of 101 which invited sharp political 10 division in the House. This is, [Ol indeed, the normal pattern of a New 14'Zealand Parliament's life. Most of 15 the legislative work giving effect to lg a government’s political policy is 2 usually passed in the first er second 5 year of its term—more in the second 7 than in the first. By the third year Lo most governments, even if they have not discharged the tasks for which they were given ' explicit electoral mandate, look more to the coming General P Election than to the previous one. This, perhaps, is the strongest , argument for the extension of the life of Parliaments from three years to four, a proposal which was made , by a Government member earlier in if the session and which may well have e. received some consideration, although unofficially, from both the main political groups. The suggestion is not a political issue and should not be allowed to become one if the parties explore the possibilities and examine the advantages and e disadvantages in concert. Unfortunately there appears to be little inclination on either side to come to grips with the constitutional and administrative problems which are t impeding the efficient discharge of the functions of Parliament in this , country. With every session—and this one was no exception—the need for some kind of a revisory chamber becomes more apparent. Each year the need for a drastic ' reform of the Parliamentary timely table becomes more imperative. Yet e it is probably too much to hope that - the parties might agree to include ; . in their election manifestos a state- ■ - ment of their willingness to consult ' together on any of these important j questions. As Mr Holland’s Government has , now been five years in power, it 1 was understandable that both 1 ■ Government and Opposition should • do some stocktaking in the final 1 j session. If the general wellbeing of ’ . the country, the standard of living of the people, and the level and 1 vigour of economic activity of all I [ kinds are accepted as criteria, the ' ' Government has no reason to be i dissatisfied with its record. Mr 1 Holland could fairly claim that his ' . fifth Budget was a prosperity s j Budget. The Opposition sought to j > show that this prosperity was more ; 1 apparent than real; and that may 1 1 well be a lively issue at the ] 5 polls. It will not be the only one < jor the most important one. The 1 ’■ difference between the parties is still J a difference of emphasis—-of attitude |' s towards the function of government; > —rather than of sharply contrasting ( ( policies. The difference is not the 1 1 less important because of that; and 1 it was emphasised throughout the , legislative record of the thirtieth 1 Parliament and in the general J administration of the country’s busi- ] ness. In its five years in office Mr * Holland’s Government has done 1 much to give effect to its philosophy of freedom. Its faith in the efficacy of the free, competitive enterprise system with the minimum of government regulation has been vindicated , by an era of plenty unknown in q 1 New Zealand for nearly 20 years, t I Throughout the sessions of Parlia- ® ment the Labour Opposition showed t that it resents this freedom and would, if it could, restore most of the elaborate system of controls 5 which it built up in its long adminis- r tration. It resents the freedom of the house-owner to sell his property for what it is worth; it resents the freedom of the merchant to import the things his customers want; it resents the freedom of the consumer to choose in the shops between domestic and imported goods. It still believes that the government knows better than the citizen how "] the latter should spend his money. Its faith in its' ability to sell the farmers’ produce to better advantage than commercial organisations is . unshaken in a world retreating £ steadily from the government-to- d government bulk contract system. a Before they cast their votes for their representatives in the thirty-first ® Parliament New Zealanders will {,! have to make up their minds which e of these philosophies offers their ° country the better hope, in an c increasingly competitive world c economy, of maintaining by their u own efforts a standard of living ti which is the envy of other countries.