The week in the House Tax bills go through in nick of time

Press, 29 September 1979, Page 2

The week in the House Tax bills go through in nick of time

By

CEDRIC MENTIPLAY

The imminence of October 1 created an atmosphere rtf urgency but the House of Representatives refused to increase its somewhat dilatory pace in the week just ended.

The week opened with what seemed an interminable debate on a select committee report on the Fishing Industry (Union Coverage) Bill, which was finally accepted, 41-29. The debate had begun the previous Friday, and the second-reading and committee stages are still ahead.

Estimates occupied the rest of Tuesday. On the Wednesday, the House had a snap debate on the drivers’ pay dispute, after which it settled down under urgency to get on with the committee stages of the Income Tax Amendment Bill, the Income Tax Annual Bill and the Land Tax (Annual) Bill. The House sat past midnight on Wednesday (the risingtime being 12.48 a.m.) but the “late-nighter” had mainly a soporific effect.

Members wandered on in an atmosphere of continual challenge, until at last the [three tax bills were passed lon Thursday. There should be some record for the length of third-reading debates, but I am sure the Guinness Book would not be interested. In theory the detailed work is done in the second-reading and committee stages. The rule of brevity in the third-reading debate seems to have been laid aside. As if this were not enough, the House turned the third-reading debate on the huge Coal Mines Bill into another marathon. It was an unexpected relief

when the Opposition called it a day just before 1 p.m. yesterday, at last freeing this important measure to the industry. In between times, just as if the predicted end of the session were more than a mere six weeks away, members busied themselves with other things. The removal of Corso from the Government’s pre-ferred-list for taxation purposes, and the withdrawal of the Government’s administration grant to Corso, captured the headlines. The battle centred on Dr 1. Shearer (Nat., Hamilton East) former Corso member, but predictably the argument fell into party patterns, without any real elucidation of whys and wherefores. Several times during the week there was reference to the “convention” which prevented members from referring to the absence of other members from the House. This may be because of sensitivity. As several members

,are away for undisclosed 'reasons, plus a party being in Venezuela for the annual conference of the InterParliamentary Union, the benches have seemed unusually sparsely occupied. As has become a custom in recent Parliaments, yesterday saw the arrival of three more bills (the Sale of Liquor Amendment, the Trustee Companies’ Amendment, and the highly-import-ant Courts Amendment). So the Order Papers and committee lists get no smaller.

With more to come, including the highly controversial National Development Bill, it becomes increasingly obvious that Parliament will have to speed up, drop the pointless chatter, and move into real latenight sittings. If not, members risk being called back in December after the November break to accommodate the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in November.