THREAT OF CLOSURE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 268, 7 August 1943, Page 4

THREAT OF CLOSURE

Slow Progress By House With Estimates PRIME MINISTER OBJECTS A ’threat to apply the closure if the House did not get through the Estimates of expenditure with greater expedition was made by the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. The House had disposed of only one departmental vote and was discussing the second for the day when Mr. Fraser rose at about 4 o’clock to issue a warning. “If discussion is not confined to a reasonable period of about an hour, or so on each class of estimate I am going to propose that the question be put, said Mr. Fraser. “We will never gel finished before the election unless we get speed on.” The acting-Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Polson (Stratford) said the vote the House was then discussing, that of the Internal Marketing Department, was highly important in that it dealt with the people’s fruit and vegetables.. Many members wished to express an opinion on the Government’s administration of the department. If the Opposition had been fractious or had deliberately obstructed progress the Prime Minister would be justified iu his -threat. But Opposition members among them had not spoken for half an hour. Some of the replies by the Minister of Marketing had amounted to speeches by their length. The Prime Minister said he was not blaming the Opposition or anyone in particular. He was remarking on the slowness of the progress. He had, in fact, never seen slower progress made with toe Estimates. It was his job to get the business of the House through. It he could not get greater progress he would have no alternative but to limit the time allotted to each class of vote. Mr. Schramm (Government, Auckland. East) : Quite right, too.