WORK OF SESSION

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 36, 6 November 1933, Page 10

WORK OF SESSION

The Week in Parliament BUDGET ON THURSDAY Companies Amendment Bill By passing last week the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill the House of Representatives cleared the Order Paper of what Is generally conceded to have been the greatest task of the session. ' Its passage through the committee stage was not the long and difficult fight most Government members expected it would be, and Ministers do not disguise their satisfaction at the relatively short time taken in disposing of so controversial a measure. Apart from two amendments agreed to by the Minister of Finance, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, in an effort to meet to a certain extent the wishes of members, the Bill was passed as introduced this session. The clause relating to the shares of the proposed Reserve Bank was amended by the insertion of a proviso restricting the issue of shares to British subjects ordinarily resident in. New Zealand, or who, having been so resident, may, at the time of allotment, temporarily be out of New Zealand for the purpose of their business ' or other sufficient reason. Appointments of Executive Officers. Determined attempts were made to persuade the Minister to amend the clause dealing with the appointments of the governor and deputy-governor of the Reserve Bank, with a view to securing a greater measure of State control in the conduct of its affairs. The Bill provided that the first appointments to these two offices be made by the Government, but that subsequent appointments be made by the shareholders. An amendment to place the future as well as the first appointments in the hands of the Government was rejected. Mr. Coates agreed, however, to an amendment whereby at the end of. the seven-year terms of the first governor and deputygovernor,, successive appointments will be made by the Government on the recommendation of the board of directors instead of by election by the shareholders as originally intended. It was admitted by Mr. Coates that he made his proposal in deference to th? views expressed to him by several members of the Coalition, and from remarks made by Mr. F. Lye (Govt., Waikato) It appeared that be was the spokesman in the-'House for this section of Government members. Mr. Lye said that he and others of the Coalition had given a great deal of thought to the matter. Two Suggestions Made. He had two suggestions to make: (1). That the governor and deputygovernor should be appointed by the Governor-General-in-Council on the recommendation of the Minister after consultation with the board; (2) that the governor be appointed by the State and the deputy-governor by the bo,ard. In the event of the latter suggestion being put into effect he suggested that the governor should have a deliberative and a casting vote and' the deputy-governor should be without a vote. If'the former suggestion were adopted he suggested the-voting should be in the usual manner, the governor having a casting and a deliberative vote. An undertaking was given by Mr. Coates that before the Bill went to “another place” he would give further consideration to the expressions of opinion with a view to embodying a clause meeting as nearly as. possible the views he had heard. Exactly how he proposes to do this win probably be revealed when the Legislative Council meets on Wednesday. The Final Authority. It is anticipated that the amendment already agreed to by Mr. Coates will stand, with the addition of a provision tending to give the Governor-General-in-Council the final authority to appoint these two officers. This will Jipssibly be done by the addition of a clause to the effect that in the event of disagreement between the Government and the board the final say will rest with the Government. This does not go quite so far as some members of the Government party wished, but it will almost certainly be acceptable to it em as a compromise. Should the appointment of these two officers rest with the State, the State will have a majority of directors on the board. The Governor-Geiieral-in-Couucil is already empowered to appoint three members of the board. His appointment of the governor and deputy-governor will increase the strength of the State’s representation to five of the nine members who are given the right to vote, in addition the State has a further representative in the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member by virtue. of his office, although he has no vote. • Presentation of Budget. Mr. Coates will present his Budget during the present week, most likely on Thursday evening. It has been already indicated by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, that the Budget will contain no surprises. Mr. Forbes ,has stated that no reduction'in taxation is possible, and bv inference indicated that ’ there will be no increases. . Last financial year ended with a small surplus and by a programme of additional taxation and economy the Minister of Finance budgeted for a "manageable deficit” this year of £4,500,000. Revenue, however, has been buoyant for some time past, and the deficit is likely to fall short of that originally estimated by the Minister. The Estimates will be of particular interest this year in view of the proposed strengthening of the defence' forces of the Dominion. Economy has been exercised wherever possible and it has already been indicated that reductions have reached a point beyond which they cannot reasonably proceed further. Departmental votes generally are expected to show little variation on last year’s estimates, which revealed the full force of the Government’s economy programme. The Poisons Bill, Although a Poisons Bill has been drafted, It was not intended to introduce the measure this session. Strong representations, however, have been made to the Government by the New Zealand Pharmacy Board, and it is now likely that the Bill will be introduced and circulated, even if it is not proceeded with. Chemists consider that the present position, especially as it touches the sale of hypnotic drugs, to be one affecting public safety, and view with alarm the possibility of the Bill not coming before Parliament this session. With the disposal of the Reserve

Bank of .New Zealand Bill at the sitting which commenced on Thursday afternoon, private members were given an opportunity oh Friday to bring measures they had sponsored before the House. Mr. F. Langstone (Lab., Waimariuo) had his Licensing Amendment Bill passed. The object of the Bill is to allow liquor advertisements to be published iu newspapers published in no-license areas. Strangely enough, Mr. I.augstone was away from Wellington at the time the Bill was put through the final stages and .passed, a 'colleague taking charge of the measure on his behalf. The Companies Amendment Bill will come on for its second reading when thg House resumes to-morrow. Owing to its technical character a long debate is not anticipated, despite the fact that the Bill contains 284 clauses and twelve schedules. There is now ample business to keep members occupied for some time. A number of Government Bills were Introduced ou Friday, and following the presentation of the Budget the way will be clear for the financial debate and discussion on the votes on the Estimates.