"TIME WASTING"

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 24, 27 July 1929, Page 11

"TIME WASTING"

TALK IN PARLIAMENT

ME. HOLLAND'S CRITICISM

Speaking ljefore the Freezing Workers' Conference yesterday, Mr. H. E. Holland, M.P., Leader of the Labour Party, said that in all the history of the New Zealand Parliament there had probably never been a greater time.wasting display at a time when it was imperative that urgently necessary legislation should bo put through. The debate had proved to be one of the longest in recent years, and almost everything that had been said by the speakers who took part in it would be said over again when the various Bills and the Budget were before the Honse. It was a debate without an objective, and if the Labour Party members had contributed to its futility it would have extended beyond a month. The worst feature of the waste of time was the fact that while Parliament talked some thousands of meu were without work, and in consequence thousands of women and children were lacking the necessaries of life. At the same time there was ample work waiting to be j done, and no shortage of money in the 'country. All that was lacking was legislative sanctions in the form of authorising Acts, and the Prime Minister had given his word that much of the legislation was ready for submission to the House. Obviously, under these circumstances, Parliament should have been permitted to get to the legislation with tlie least possible delay. Instead of this being done, weeks had been spent in recriminative and almost wholly useless talk. It would have been worse 'than criminal if there was any further unnecessary delay in putting through the legislation necessary to meet the situation arising out of the problem of unemployment, and this included legislation affecting both land and finance, as well as public works.

In discussing the political situation, Mr. Holland made it clear that the Labour Party would not support any motion of . no-confidence moved by the Eeform Party. "That would mean putting back on the Government benches the Conservative Party, which made such a dismal, failure of its sixteen years' opportunity," he said, "and the Labour movement will not stand for that." He went on to say that if a change of Government came it would only be as the result of the Eeform Party supporting a want-of-confidence moved by the Labour Party.

At the conclusion of Mr. Holland's address a motion of thanks to the speaker and confidence in the Labour Party was carried.