BROADCASTING INQUIRY REFUSED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 41, 12 November 1937, Page 10

BROADCASTING INQUIRY REFUSED

Nothing that the Prime Minister or any of the Government supporters has said during the debate on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill has justified Mr. Savage’s refusal of a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the establishment and conduct oi the commercial stations. The charges which the Opposition has persistently repeated are serious enough to warrant full inquiry.. The Government resents-this request as an attempt by the. Opposition to make political capital. It should remember that in this matter the Opposition is voicing the dissatisfaction of a substantial section of public opinion. There has been criticism of various aspects of this Government enterprise ever since the appointment of the Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour as director. It cannot all be based on imagination and baseless rumour. In the public interest, as well as for the reputation of the Commercial Broadcasting Service and those controlling it, these suspicions, rumours, and direct charges should be systematically sifted by an independent investigation. The Government must see that to leave the position where it is is unfair to those who have been criticised and to those who have made the charges. It is also unfair to the general public who are entitled to know the full The public will not be convinced by assertions unsupported by evidence. Naturally it will ask why does the Government shrink from the investigation? If it persists in its present attitude it will only have itself to blame if the public regards this unwillingness to let the people have the facts in an unfavourable light.