SESSION’S WORK

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 31, 31 October 1932, Page 8

SESSION’S WORK

Budget Debate Dying NO LEGISLATION YET Critics and Members HOW A BILL WAS BORN (By Our Parliamentary Representative) Entering upon the sixth week of the session, the House of Representatives has not yet come to grips seriously with the more important work that has to be done. Personal squabbling has been more prominent during the past week than helpful contributions to the Budget Debate. Work on actual Bills may narrow the channels of debate. There are many who are sceptical of the Government's chances of ending the session before Christmas. It will be a serious reflection on its methods, however, if Parliament should have to resume after the New Year, especially in view of the avoidable waste of time during the past month or so. Those who are close to the counsels of Cabinet have no hesitation in saying that all the work will be done within a week of Christmas and there is reason to believe that once the Budget Debate is ended, the House will make more progress. An Effort Frustrated. An eight-paged Order Pape? is already circulated to members before each sitting day and it is rapidly being cluttered up with items which could soon be disposed of with a little earnest application. The Prime Minister did make an effort one day last week to purge the crowded pages by having struck out a part of the long section listing departmental and other reports, many of no significance. The Oppositionists, however, were not so keen to see chances of future discussion destroyed, and only a few deletions were made, with the result that there are still about 80 entries in this section, a large proportion being inconsequental. Although it still holds the floor, the discussion of the Financial Statement has lost all semblance of a debate, and an undue proportion of the speeches have been weighted with personalities whose relevance to the position of the State’s finances is difficult to see. Several members have taken it upon themselves to champion Parliament as an institution against critics outside the House, although there have been particularly outspoken critics on the floor of the chamber itself. Among these the frankest has certainly been Mr. W. P. Endean, Government member for Parnell, who has applied the test of utility to the ponderous procedure. He has brought a storm of protest upon Jiis head, but someone hinted last week that Parliament was best judged by its fruits. Bills for Consideration.

Less delay should occur after the Prime Minister has wound up the Budget debate, probably to-morrow. The Bill to extend the life of Parliament permanently from three to four years will be brought down this week, and it will contain a clause postponing the licensing poll. In addition this week will see the appearance of the Customs Bill giving legislative effect to the resolutions passed by the House on October 13. As this measure will throw open for discussion once again the whole of the Ottawa Conference decisions, more will no doubt be heard on the question of secondary industries from the Labour benches. So-far no intimation has been given concerning the facilities to be given Public Servants and State annuitants to place evidence before the Select Committee on the Government Superannuation Funds Bill. The birth of this Bill has a curious history, so far not generally known. When its framing came before Cabinet it was decided to lift en bloc the recommendations of the National Expenditure Commission, and place them in a draft measure, keeping an open mind as to the ultimate form the Bill might take. Job for the House. When the Prime Minister said in the House after the Bill had been sent to the committee that the Government would be prepared to accept reasonable amendments, there was more in his statement than appeared on the surface. Strictly speaking, the. Bill is the House’s and not the Government’s, and as long as the committee adheres to the commission’s intention of strengthening the funds, Cabinet will probably be prepared to fall into line with any suggestion for changing the specific proposals in the Bill. Thus it might come back to the House in a very different form from that in which it went to the committee. The legislation to establish a Central Reserve Bank will not appear for a week or so, as the Government does not apparently wish to put it through until after the return from England on November 23 of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Stewart. He will probably have charge of the measure, whose general outline has been known for some time, although Mrt Stewart may have some additional suggestions- to make as the result of his conversations with British Treasury officials.