OPENING TOMORROW

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 70, 20 September 1933, Page 10

OPENING TOMORROW

A WOMAB MEMBER

PARTY CAUCUSES

. With customary) ceremony, the third session of the t urenty-fourth. Parliament will be opeoied by his Excellency the. Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) at 2.30 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. His Excellency ■■ rill arrive in the grounds of Par! lament Buildings at 2.25 o'clock, and after inspecting tho guard of honour provided by tho New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy will proceed to tl ie Legislative Council Chamber, where le will deliver • the Speech from the {Throne.

Parliament Bupdings have already taken on that bi lay appearanco associated with the opeming of a session, and a large number of members have already taken up their quarters. There will be further arrivals this evening and tomorrow morning.

The proceeding c tomorrow afternoon will be invested with more than usual interest by virtue of tho fact that Mrs. Elizabeth R. McC ombs, the first woman to be elected to -the House of Representatives in Ne-r Zealand, will take her seat for the first time. Mrs. McCombs will bei sworn in after the formal opening cc Ircinony in the Legislative Council. Some doubt existed as to whether th( >» official count would be completed in -time to permit Mrs. McCombs taking her seat at the opening of the session, but word was received in Welling fton today that the count had been completed and that Mrs. McCombs h;»d been formally declared elected. McCombs will arrive in Welling jton tomorrow morning, and in the cv ening she is to bo entertained at a so tial function at ' the Trades Hall. ■< . After the Specih from the Throne, members of the.lf.ouse of Representatives will meet in. their own Chamber, but there will be little business transacted apart from the asking of questions. Members .»re usually in a very inquisitive mood a it the opening of the session, and Ministers have to submit to a veritable bo tnbardment of questions from all part: j of the House. There will also be a brfcf sitting of the Legislative Council tomorrow afternoon. - On Friday mem fcers of the Council and the House of ''.Representatives will meet tg pay tribir to to legislators who have died since thi 5 last session of Parliament. Respect -will be paid to the memory of the lati i Hon. Wiremu Rikihana, the Hon. G\. M. Thomson, the Hon. Sir Thomas S Edey, Mr. James Me-. Combs, and Mr. A. McNicol, and both Houses will then adjourn until Tuesday afternoon. The afternoon sitting on Tuesday will xklso be brief, the House adjourning i cfter formal business until the evening, "nvhen the debate on the Address-in-Ref ily motion will be commenced. Tho jmotion will be proposed by Mr. H. H ijlland (Government, Christchurch North!) and seconded by Mr. W. J. Broadfoc* (Government, Waitomo). The Address-in-Rteply debate in the Council will be conamenced on Tuesday afternoon, the mov-ekr being the Hon. W. Snodgrasg and theoaeconder the Hon. C. J. Carrington. Although a definite line of action will not be decided upvsn until the Labour Party meets in catieus, it is fully expected that a hostile amendment to the Address-in-Reply motion will be launched by the liieader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holland). The Labour Party is naturally: elated over the successful issue of ttie Lyttelton by-elec-tion, and is hard fyr likely to let the chance of testing the feeling of the House on a no-ccnifidence motion go by the board. There! is reason to believe that Mr. Holland ;ls' amendment will make a feature off Che Government's high exchange poliley, which was a big issue during the b^-election.

Suggestions havju been made that there may be an inteff-party arrangement to curtail the length of the Address-in-Reply ■ debate in order to clear the way for the Government's legislation, but in flicetioms are that the Labour Party wil\\ not readily agree to forgo any of its jights. The Govern' ment may resort .to other means of bringing the debatju to an early end, and it has been suggested that not moro than a ■week wilt be devoted to the debate

A caucus of ths^Labour Party will be held tomorrow maiming, and the Coalition Party will meet tomorrow evening. The Prime llinister will address members of the Government Party on the results of his^isit to England, and will also outline; the legislative programme for the ;ai2ssion.