WORK BEFORE PARLIAMENT

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30587, 2 November 1964, Page 1

WORK BEFORE PARLIAMENT

(Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, November 1. Unless the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) employs drastic measures to accelerate the working speed of Parliament, there is little chance that the House of Representatives will rise at the date he has in mind. That date is rumoured to be November 13, which would leave Parliament with two full working weeks in which to shift a mass of legislation. Beyond indicating that he has “a firm date” in mind, Mr Holyoake has declined to indicate that he is in any hurry to terminate the present session. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Nordmeyer) took occasion on Friday to mention this previous comment in favour of longer sessions of Parliament, and indicated that the Opposition would be in voice as long as there was anything left to oppose. The present session has been noted for its quietness. Mr Holyoake has made minimum use of urgency, using it mainly to secure the passing of small groups of estimates. In place of the more usual occasional “all-nighter” he has substituted midnight sittings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This has resulted in some clearances, but when Parliament rcse on Friday, having passed 15 bills, there were still 49 effective measures to be dealt with, plus four classes of estimates and the complete list of supplementary estimates. At the tail of the order paper are four Opposition private members’ bills (put forward by Messrs Fox, Watt, Mathison and Douglas) which

are not likely to be heard of again. With them is the New Zealand Bill of Rights, which was read a second time pro forma in August, 1963. The main bulk of the work to be done consists of the second reading debates of 16 bills, the committee stages of 26 others, and the wind-up stages of about a dozen more.

In normal end-of-session running, this schedule could be kept in a fortnight—but this year there are some special features.

The principle obstacle to a quick finish to the session may well be the Education Bill, of 207 clauses and one schedule, which was reported back to the House on Friday.

The Opposition has shown its distaste for several of the clauses in this measure. The committee stages alone could take a week of debate. In addition, nine bills are still before select committees. These include the Waterfront Industry Amendment Bill, the Shipping and Seamen Amendment Bill, the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill, the Stock Amendment Bill, the Local Legislation Bill, the Social Security Bill, the Transport Amendment Bill and the Statutes Amendment Bill. The speech from the Throne contained the promise of at least eight bills, some of them of major importance, which have not yet appeared.

The likelihood now is that these measures will not come forward—but there is no certainty about this. After all, the Development Finance Corporation Bill was fated to be shelved until early last week, until the appearance of an Opposition measure forced its production. The Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Marshall) has indicated that it will proceed—and this could lead to a long and spirited assault by the Opposition. The Opposition still believes that the Government intends to end the session be-

fore the meeting in Rotorua of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. which opens on November 23.

Mr Holyoake has a strong interest in the federation, as he helped to found it. In 1946, as a Dominion councillor of Federated Farmers, Mr Holyoake attended the conference in London which established the federation. At that time

he was Deputy-Leader of the National Party, then the Opposition.

The Attorney-General (Mr Hanan) will leave in about 10 days’ time to represent New Zealand at the Colombo Plan consultative committee meeting opening in London on November 17, and at the session of the United Nations General Assembly opening in New York on December 1.