END OF BUDGET DEBATE

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 190, 11 May 1942, Page 6

END OF BUDGET DEBATE

Prime Minister’s Reply

The advisability of broadcasting even the ordinary business of the House of Representatives in times like the present was quetsloned by the Prime Minister, .Mr. Fraser, when replying to the debate on the Financial Statement ou Saturday. He said that in the present tense atmosphere even the most innocent and earnest interjection seemed petty and out of place when heard over the air, and he would have to ask the House to consider whether it would not be better to be off the air altogether. Mr. Fraser said there had been unanimous recognition of the policy of pursuing our war effort to its maximum and of paying for it as much as we could out of current income. There was no uncertainty regarding these two- overwhelmingly important points. Despite the high level of the debate he felt, however, that our fate was not being decided here but in the waters off New Guinea and the Solomons, just as it was influenced in Greece, Libya, and France, and at the present time on the eastern front and round the Arctic Circle where our convoys were doing great work getting supplies through to the Russians. , The speeches in the debate, said Mr. Fraser, were of a uniformly high character Some of the contributions had been very good. All the same, with the fate of the country’ in the balance as at present, it was just doubtful if the ordinary business of the House struck the ear of the listener as of being of much importance. lie would like the House to consider that. “Everything humanly possible has been done to further our war effort, said Mr. Fraser in referring to the work of the War Cabinet. ‘Me are now’ far better prepared to hurl back an invader than ever before. There is no difference of opinion, either in the House or outside it, as to our doing everything possible to resist an invader, and after we have resisted to attack as quickly as possible. Rehabilitation Scheme. “There will be no hesitation on the part of Parliament in providing the necessary funds for the rehabilitation of men returning from the war, said the Prime Minister. He added that when the present colossal programme of defence works eased off it would be agreed that provision must be made for housing as part of a rehabilitation scheme. . . The Prime Minister said the project at present in hand was that men now engaged on the defence works programme should later be put to clearing and preparation of laud, the building of roads and bridges and other work necessary for housing in selected localities. At the conclusion of the defence works programme the men engaged on it would not be allowed to go into the ranks of the unemployed, for it would be a great waste of human effort in the middle of a war. Good as the housing scheme had been, the number already built was as nothing compared wit J the number required if the returned men and their families and others requiring homes were to be properly housed. The demand could never be overtaken if the old standards were adhered to. Houses had to be produced ou a much bigger scale without lowering the standard. Representatives Abroad.

The work of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash, and the Minister of Lauds, Air. Langstone, as New Zealand representatives abroad, was defended by the Prime Minister. Both, he said, had done splendid work for the Dominion, and New Zealand was indeed fortunate in its two representatives In Liie North ■American Continent. Washington was one of the most important spots on the earth today so far as New Zealand was concerned, said .Mr. Fraser. .Mr. Nash had been selected for the position of New Zealand Minister there because of his grasp of the situation in the Pacific. Not. only had he lived up to their expectations but he had exceeded them already. Air. Fraser said that when the Prime Minister of Canada had met him in London one of the first things he had asked was that New Zealand implement the exchange of representatives by appointing a representative to Ottawa. -Mr. Langstone was eminently titled for the position. Cost Of Living. “Even allowing for the defects in subsidies it is better to have them than to allow the cost, of living to rocket up,” said the Prime Minister. He added that the increase in the cost of living la New Zealand was less than in any other country. Every effort must be made and was being made to keep down the cost of living. In Great Britain £140,000,000 had been paid in subsidies to keep the cost of living stable. The financial policy of the Government was aimed at endeavouring to stabilize.

Brief references to the question of a national government was made by the Prime Minister in reply to a question by -Mr. Doidge (Opposition, Tauranga). "I will not deviate one hair’s breadth from the opinion I have already expressed in regard to a national government.” said Mr. Fraser. "I believe it to be in the interests of the country. If I can’t get all that 1 want in that direction I will try to obtain the maximum.”