GOVERNMENT POLICY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 145, 16 December 1933, Page 10

GOVERNMENT POLICY

COMMITTEE REPORTS

MR. SPEAKER'S RULING

An interesting point regarding tho procedure of Select Committees in dealing with petitions was raised in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, and a ruling was given by the Speaker (the Hon. Sir Charles Statham) that there was nothing in the Standing Orders to prevent a Committee from making a recommendation to the House, even if a matter of Government policy was involved. j The chairman of the Public Petitions Committee (Mr. E. F. Healy) presented a report on a Palmerston North petition, reporting that tho Committeo had no recommendation to make as a matter of Government policy was involved. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Independent, Wanganui) suggested that the action of the Committee was unconstitutional. In the very early history of Great Britain, the King gave to his subjects tho right to approach him personally with grievances, and by Magna.Carta the'people were given the right to approach Parliament. He suggested that the action of the Committee in making no recommendation had deprived the petitioners of the right of access to Parliament. The Speaker said that the point raised by Mr. Veitch was an interesting one and in certain respects an important one. There was no rule that because a policy matter was involved Committees could not consider a petition or make a recommendation to the House. The practice had grown up, however, of Committees making no recommendation when matters of policy wero involved, but that probably arose from the fact that there was a majority of Government members of a Committee and that majority had no desire to embarrass the Government. The Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. J. A. Young) said that although policy questions were involved petitions were actually considered by Committees, which heard evidence, so it could not be said that the rights of petitioners had been abused. After all, the initiation of legislation rested with the Government. Mr. P. Fraser (Labour, Wellington Central) said that the initiation of legislation did liot rest with the Government but with Parliament, or the Governor-General. Mr. R. A. Wright. (Independent, Wellington Suburbs) said that it was very satisfactory to have the point cleared up. ,