HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 283, 26 August 1944, Page 8

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

More Speeches In. Debate On Financial Statement TWO BILLS INTRODUCED

Wii-b another three. contributions to the Financial Debate in the House of KepresenUtivos J "Z from the GovernStaXs°and 21. have been made by Opposition members. The debate 1108 t 7 reimposlnjr the current rates of taxap.m„ ami will resume ou Tuesday,

Anv person. whether he was ~i nJ ® Government service or out ot ’G '' n o retarded the progress ot ™habilitatK) > must be dealt with, said Mr. Hackett (Government, Grey Lynn), whose speech had been interrupted by the the previous evening. lie emphasiz:ed the necessity for decentralization of the an ministration, stating the soonar A l }!® 'P® done the more likely was rehabilitation to be a success. . The Budget did not give a true picture of what had been and was being done •in rehabilitating returned servicemen, said Mr. Hackett. The amount already spent was close on £3.500,000, and the rate of present expenditure was a ?o“t £300,000 a mouth. He had been.a little disappointed that greater provision bad not been made in the Budget for age beneficiaries. He was pleased, however, ■that legislation was to be introduced during the next session _ to provide a guaranteed minimum family income, and that time could not arrive soon enough, specially if it would result in improv-, ing the lot of the age beneficiaries. Mr. Maekley (Opposition, Masterton) said the member for Grey Lynn s_ reference to ‘•dealing with" persons in the Government service who retarded rehabilitation was an attack on the Civil Service. Lie did not think that the present Government had the confidence ot the Civil .Service which previous Governments enjoyed. He wondered what was happening in the service to cause a member of the Government to get up and warn members of the service against hindering rehabilitation. Mhy should they hinder it? Before the advent of the Labour Government there was no more reliable body of men and women than the Civil Service, and if any change as implied by the remarks of the member for Grey Lynn had occurred this was due_ to the present Government. If the service was no longer pure the responsibility rested with the Government! • The Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash: Is the honourable member suggesting that the Public Service is not pure today? ~ , r Mr. Maekley: I will say quite definitely that the standard of the Public Service in some sections today is not as good as in 1935. If the Government would like the facts I will give them. Incidence of Taxation. The suggestion that a Royal Commission be appointed to inquire into the incidence of taxation with the object ot removing anomalies, was made by Mr. Macklev. There were numerous anomalies of which the Minister of Finance was aware, and their removal was long overdue, he said. If there were difficulties in the introduction of “pay-as-you-go’’ taxation this system should be included in the order of reference of the commission. Mr. Maekley said that distorted and unwarranted attacks on the Press and uttered bv the member for Grey Lynn came badly from a Government which ' had received very generous treatment i from the newspapers. The Earl of Listowel, n Labour peer who recently visited . the Dominion, had paid a tribute to the ‘ Press of New Zealand. The abuse of the Press from the Government benches cut no ice at all with the people of New Zealand. . _ . . . When the people of the Dominion rend of how other countries were shaping plans for the transition of industry from War to peace and were preparing for rc- ‘ construction, they realized how little the Government had taken them into its confidence over its plans, if it had any, tsaid Mr. Maekley. Apparently tlie Govi ernment’s policy was to wait and see. This was the policy adopted over stabilization, which was put into effect two years too late. There was no more urgent need than to be able to assure 'returning service men and women that ■they had jobs to come back to. Relief works would be no substitute for properly planned reconstruction. Industry ■wanted to know where it stood because it would have to provide the bulk of the post-war jobs. A vast reafforestation programme should be undertaken. Lt ■would provide useful employment and provide au asset of high economic value. ' ‘ Referring to the growth of the Public ; Service, Mr. Maekley said that in IJo-i ‘.the total number employed in it was 136,752. but by 1942 the figure had risen ito 65,542. It was probably more today. 'lt. was little wonder that tile increase in (public expenditure was becoming serious. | The service was seething with discontent. The railwaymen were claiming some- • Thing like £3.000.000 before the new tribunal, and the Government could not evade its responsibilities by shouting “stabilization I” War Against Japan. The opinion that it would take from 18 months to two years to defeat the ; Japanese was expressed by Mr. Connolly . (Government, Dunedin West). “Do not let us under-estimate the strength of the Japanese,” he said. “For two and. a half years the Japanese have been filling up their warehouses with the resources from Burma and the other countries they have overrun.” The argument that members of the Opposition would have a better conception of what, was being achieved in this ; country under present conditions if one , of them were able to visit the United i .Kingdom and see (be conditions there was i advanced by Mr. Connolly, when discuss- ■ ing housing. He said that if they had ‘tlm benefit of that experience they wou.d not raise the trivial questions they did i every dny. Not one member of. the Opposition hail been in Great Britain since the outbreak of war. he said. there were six members of the Government who .had been in Britain during that period ’and they had seen something of the housing conditions in that country. “I nave seen something of the si ■ ns ot Glasgow.” said Mr. Connolly. Mr. Doidgc (Opposition, Tauranga) . Have you seen the slums in Wellington. Mr. 'Connolly said there were no slums here comparable to the ones be had .seen in Glasgow .where four or five were living in one room. The men who lived in those places were working 11 to 12 hours a day on the Clyde building battleships that were in the forefront of naval actions. Thousands lived together four or five in a room, having the use of washhouse and bathroom 'amenities once, a fortnight for 'only 15 minutes. If they were sick and /missed their turn they had to wait another fortnight till their turn came •around again. “f. suggest that when the next delegation leaves this country members of the Opposition are included.” said Mr. Connolly. “and if that were done they would : come hack realizing what a great job is being done here. The time is more than opportune when nt least some member of the Opposition should go home, and ho could then come back and tell the rest of his party how well off we are in New Zealand.” A Government member: The insurance companies will insure against the loss of the seat. Fishing and whaling should open up possibilities in the way of rehabilitation ‘ for those men who hail given such gallant service at sea during the war. said Mr. Connolly. Many of the minesweepers could be turned-into fishing vessels for an expenditure of a few thousand pounds. There must he fishing grounds around New Zealand that could produce a voluminous amount of fish. Rehabilitation Policy.

Air. Harker (Opposition. Waip(iwn) •said the Government would never rehabilitate mon on the land while. tlie .restrictions they had imposed remained, and where they were putting men on the ;.Jand it was senerally a case of taking one man off to put another on. The same applied to returned men who wished to start in business. There were eases where men had bon uh t sections and plant, only to be told -they could not have [licenses to conduct that class of busiSiess in that. area. He contended that .M. jy> .licencing.. reatrictioß

on a returned man who was prepared to finance himself into business or who was to be financed by the State after a. rehabilitation committee had decided that the man could conduct that type of busiHarker advocated a thorough investigation of the present resources and needs of the timber industry. He said we should be able to supply the wholeof our own softwood requirements, and in 25 years we should have found a sound export trade in that class of timber. New Zealand should also play a large part in the production of plywood plastics and kindred timber products. Our forests has to be protected more efficiently from various pests now threatening them. .me elimination of these pests was a national duty. There should be an increasingly close co-ordination of forestry programmes and projects for the control or soil erosion. Stirring up the Farmers.

A charge that the Opposition were stirring up unrest among the farmers tor political purposes and were urging them to go slow unless they received higher nricesJor their produce was made by Mr. Chapman (Government. Wellington North). , . - “What is your authority for saying that?” interjected Mr. Oram (Opposition. Manawatu). , , , Mr. Chapman replied that members, of the Opposition were constantly urging the farmers to grab. grab. grab, lhe working farmer knew that he. was remarkably well off under the Labour Government. His costs had been more or less stabilized and in the main he was satisfied. It was only the Opposition agitation that had stirred up. a small section of the farming community. Defending the stabilization policy. Mr. Chapman said that the theory of stabilization was sound, but its operation reouired almost constant review so that those on low incomes or pensions could have their position improved in tlte light of changing circumstances. The Opposition wanted stabilization for everybody except the farmers. . Mr, Goosman (Opposition. Waikato) . They were left behind in the rush. Air. Chapman: I doubt whether they were, but some other sections were left behind. , , Referring to the development of aviation, Mn Chapman said that after the war New Zealand would be close to the great nations of Europe and America. The Dominion should make full use ot the opportunities opening to it to send ambassadors and other representatives to tell other people of. New Zealand s achievements, and negotiate for trade. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 5.30 p.m.

MENTAL NURSES

Control By Registration 1 Board INTRODUCTION OF BILL The registration and training of psychiatric nurses is provided for in the Nurses and Midwives’ Registration Amendment Bill, introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Minister of Health, Air. Nordmeyer, explained that the main purpose of the Bill was to bring mental nurses under the control of the Nurses and Alidwives’ Registration Board. At present the Alental Hospitals Department conducted examinations for these girls, but this had no standing as far as the rest of the Empire was concerned. The Alinister said it was hoped to establish a closer liaison between mental and general nursing, and in each case an allowance would be made for the portion of the time spent in each service. The Bill would improve the status of mental hospital nurses. The Bill had the approval of all the parties consulted, the Health Department, the Alental Hospitals Department, and the Nurses and Midwives’ Registration Board.

The Bill, which is to become operative on January 1, 1945, states that the Dir-ector-General of Mental Hospitals is to Ik? a member of the Nurses and Midwives’ Registration Board. A registered psyelii atric nurse is also to be appointed to the board on the recommendation of the New Zealand Registered. Nurses’ Association. Replying to an inquiry by Mr. Bowden (Opposition, Wellington West) as to whether there was anything in the Bill to provide for the training ot male nurses, the Minister said that no distinction was made and either male or female could be trained.

SPEAKER’S WARNING

Cross-Talk By Members

A warning that if the cross-talk among members did not cease be would name the members who offended was given by the Speaker, Mr. Schramm, in the House yesterday. He said the passing of remarks across the floor of the House by back-benchers to members on the opposite side of the House had to cease. Crosstalk of that sort was against the good order and decorum of the House. The House had appointed him Speaker and he wished to give a final warning that he would carry out the standing orders and name members unless lhe cross-talk ceased.

The existing rates of taxation arc reimposed for the current year by the Land and Income Tax (Annual) Bill, which was introduced in the House yesterday. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash, said the Bill simply gave the Commissioner ot Taxes power to collect taxes in accordance with the law.