COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL PARLIAMENT MAY STILL BE SITTING IN DECEMBER

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31785, 16 September 1968, Page 14

COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL PARLIAMENT MAY STILL BE SITTING IN DECEMBER

(By Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, September 15.—Though the present session of Parliament started considerably later than the 1967 one, there is yet no sign of urgency in getting down to business. The thirty-seventh actual sitting day of the session has just been completed—and there will be only three more before Parliament rises again next Thursday night for another “working recess.”

The great bulk of the Estimates has still to be worked through, and some 29 important pieces of legislation await Parliament’s pleasure. At least a dozen bills have still to appear in the House, apart from half a dozen which will be tabled without action, to be examined over the Christmas break and proceeded with next session.

As a result, when Parliament reconvenes on October 1, with possibly six weeks of a normal session left, most of this session’s main task will still be ahead. For a crucial three weeks of that time the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) will be visiting the United States and South Korea for a series of highlevel consultations.

During his absence the House will be under the able control of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Marshall). Though there have been predictions that Mr Marshall will go overseas later in the year, these have not been confirmed, He was last overseas in November, when, in his capacity as Minister of Overseas Trade, he attended important conferences in Europe and the United Kingdom. This does not include the few days he spent in Australia early this year. Returning Ministers During the last week two Ministers returned from trips which had kept them away from the House for varying times. Last Thursday evening the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) returned from Japan, where he had been attending the second of two International Labour conferences he had taken part in during the year. Yesterday the Minister of Health (Mr McKay) flew in from Sydney on the last stage of what must have been an exhausting air journey from Kampala, where he had attended the Commonwealth Medical Conference. Both will be available for the three sitting days of work before i the House rises again on Thursday night. There is no such guarantee for the six members of Parliament, including the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Seath) and the deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Watt), who are making a fact-finding tour of SouthEast Asian countries. They may be back on Tuesday, but Mr Seath is not expected in the House until Thursday, the day it rises for the recess. During October there will bv other arrivals and departures, so that the House of

Representatives will be little closer to its full complement of 80 members than it has been this month or last. First back will be Mr Muldoon, posting into Auckland on October 12 after a record world circuit, during which he will have touched effectively at all financial capitals. Many Estimates To Come By this time the Estimates should have been moved well along. At least, the Education Estimate will have been disnosed of—which will release the Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella) for his trip to Paris in mid-October for the U.N.E.S.C.O. conference. So far, only the Estimates of Departments and offices in the care of Messrs Holyoake, Marshall, Muldoon and Hanan have been dealt with. The Estimates to come are 39 in October, and 13 ministers are involved. A week ago, Mr Holyoake ruled that Government business should take precedence. This normally disposes of private members’ bills—but last week the practice of debating these measures (which are fated not to proceed anyway) was continued.

Oddly enough, a private member’s measure—the Cost of Credit Disclosure Bill, sponsored by Mr G. F. Gair (Nat, North Shore) stood at the head of the Order Paper when the House sat on Friday. Mr Holyoake apologised for by-passing it, and committed the House to discuss it next Wednesday. Three other private members’ bills, which have alreadyreceived some discussion, and which are not likely to come forward again this session, are at the bottom of the Order Paper. They are: The Clean Air Bill (Mr MacDounell), the Fair Credit Transactions Bill (Mr Whitehead), and the Ministry of Natural Resources Bill (Mr Rowling). A Solid List

Of the 26 measures on the main Order Paper, none are in the late stages. The State Advances Corporation Amendment Bill is partly through its second reading debate, and 17

are still to have their committal or second reading debates. These are: The Broadcasting Authority Bill, the Post Office Amendment Bill (No. 2), the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Bill, the Ministry of Transport Bill, the Poultry Bill, the Joint Family Homes Amendment Bill, the Real Estate Agents Amendment Bill, the Judicature Amendment Bill, the Meat Amendment Bill, the Quantity Surveyors Bill, the Vocational Training Council Bill, the Land and Income Tax Amendment Bills (Nos 2 and 3), the Swaziland Bill, the Niue Amendment Bill, and the R.N.Z.A.F. Amendment Bill.

Others which have passed their second reading debates, but which await their committee stages before they can be given a third reading and passed, are: The National Military Service Amendment Bill, the Nassella Tussock Amendment Bill, the Tourist Hotel Corporation Amendment Bill, the Maori and Island Affairs Amendment Bill, the Niue Amendment Bill, the Education Amendment Bill, the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Amendment Bill, and the Arms Amendment Bill. Five local bills are at various stages (including the Christchurch Town Hall Empowering Bill, which needs only a third reading). Committees Burdened The Select Committees which deal with legislation are heavily burdened with 28 Bills of various kinds, which will swell the main Order Paper early next month. Ten are local bills. The Local Bills Committee has kept well up with things generally, and has dealt with a large number of measures which have now been passed: but the present load will take some disposing of.

Four other committees have one or two bills each. The Social Services Committee has the Maternal Mortality Research Bill and the Medical Practitioners Bill; the Commerce Committee has the Explosives Amendment Bill and the Sea Carriage of Goods Amendment Bill. Then there are the Lands and Agriculture Committee (a Northland Harbour measure) and the Committee of Selection (a Church Bill). The Statutes Revision Committee, however, may be considered to be overloaded with no fewer than 12 measures, comprising most of Mr Hanan’s new legal measures, several of which are necessarily weighty and arguable. It will be a major effort if the committee clears half of these before November. The list is: The Criminal Justice Amendment Bill, the Criminal Trespass Bill, the Domestic Proceedings Bill, the Estate and Gift Duties Bill, the Guardianship Bill, the Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill, the Matrimonial Proceedings Amendment Bill, the Mental Health Bill, the New Zealand Society of Accountants Amendment Bill, the Parliamentary Commissioner (Ombudsman) Amendment Bill, the Status of Children Bill, and the Trustee Amendment Bill.

With still other measures mooted, nobody is prepared to predict when Parliament will rise. There is a general feeling, however, that it may not be before mid-December.