PARLIAMENT Mr Macfarlane Elected Speaker Of The House

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28491, 22 January 1958, Page 12

PARLIAMENT Mr Macfarlane Elected Speaker Of The House

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter)

\ WELLINGTON, January 21. The galleries in the House of Representatives were filled this afternoon when members of New Zealand’s thirty-second Parliament were sworn in and the Mayor of Christchurch and member for Christchurch Central (Mr R. M. Macfarlane), was elected Speaker.

The ceremony, which included the swearing-in of all members by the Clerk of the House (Mr H. N. Dollimore), lasted 55 minutes.

The ceremony began when the Commltajon of Supreme Court Judges—the ..Chief Justice (Sir Harold Barrowclough>, Mr Justice McGregor and Mr- Justice McCarthy—clad’in their scarlet robes and preceded by the Gencle«Mn Usher of the Black Rod(Squadron Leader J. E. Seal) entered the chamber. * In accordance with Parliamentary tradition the Government Whips, Messrs H. L. J. May (Onslow) and R. Macdonald tPonsonby) nominated Mr Macfarlane as Speaker. Tradition has it that the nominee for Speaker must exhibit some reluctance and that he must be escorted to the Speaker’s chair and loday, Mr Macfarlane was„ escorted by Messrs May and Macdonald. Mr Macfarlane, who will be presented to the GovernorGeneral (Lord Cobham) tomorrow morning for his Excellency’s approval, thanked the House for the honour accorded him and said he appreciated the responsibility of the office. He asked members for their cooperation. "I am not one of those who believes that Parliament can be conducted entirely as a kindergarten,” he said. “Some people believe this should be so, but it is inevitable that at times feelings will run high. For my part. I will try to return members’ co-operation and to be completely impartial.” The Prime Minister <Mr Nash) and the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holyoake) congratulated Mr Macfarlane and expressed their confidence in him. Mr Holyoake assured Mr Macfarlane of the "utmost goodwill’’ of the Opposition. All 41 Government members were present, but there were some gaps in the Opposition benches. Mr J. A. Roy. who on Saturday won the Clutha seat, could not be present as the writs for this election have not yet been returned. Other Opposition members absent were Messrs F. L. A. Gotz

(Manukau), H. Johnston (Waipa), and T. L. Hayman (Waitaki), who have been attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s conference at New Delhi. The Labour front-benchers in toe House are Mr Nash, the-Deputy-Prime Minister (Mr C. F. Skinners, the Attorney-Genera! (Mr H, G. R. Mason), the Minister of Ftoanca, (Mr A. H. Nordmeyer), the Minister of Labour (Mr F. Hackett), the Minister of Forests (Mr E. T. Tirikatene). th? Minister of Works (Mr H. Watt) and the Minister of Housing (Mr W. A. Fox). Mr Watt and Mr Fox have replaced toe Minister of Social Security (Miss M. B. Howard) and the member for Timaru, Mr C. L. Carr, in the front row. The Opposition front-benchers are Mr Holyoake, the deputy leader (Mr J. R. Marshall), Mr W. S. Goosman, Mr R. M. Algie, Mr J. T. Watts, Dame Hilda Ross. Mr S. W. Smith and Mr J. R. Hanan. Mr Hanan is the only newcomer to the Opposition's front benches. The Opposition Whips are the former Minister of Lands (Mr R. G. Gerard), Senior Whip, and Mr E. P. Aderman. Junior Whip. Mr Aderman was Senior Whip at the close of the last Parliament and Mr Gerard held that post before he became a Minister.

Legislation For Tax Rebate

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Jan. 21. The Prime Minister (Mr Nash) said tonight that he hoped to have the legislation to implement the £lOO income tax rebate introduced in the House of Representatives tomorrow afternoon. Mr Nash said he could not say what the business of the House would be during the remainder of the week, nor did he have any definite idea on how long the session would last. Mr Nash said-he would like to have the session end before February 7, when the Queen Mother would be in Wellington. He had had ' talks with ‘ the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holyoake) on the question but they had not made any final agreement. Both the National and Labour caucuses met today and there was a short meeting of Cabinet after the opening of Parliament this afternoon.