WAITANGI INVITATION
CRITICISM ANSWERED
(By Telegraph—Press Association.) HAMILTON,. March 1. An opinion that the Government had treated Captain Rushworth, M.P. for Bay of Islands, with the greatest discourtesy in connection with the. recent Waitangi celebrations, was expressed by Mr. J. H. Furniss, president of the Waikato branch of the New Zekland Farmers1 Union, at a meeting of the executive today. Mr. Furniss explained that although every county councillor and member* of local bodies in the district, and practically every member of Parliament in the Dominion received special invitation with transport and seating accommodation arranged, Captain Rushworth was not invited, and no arrangements wero made for his attendance at the celebrations held in his electorate. Mr. Furniss also stated that the GovernorGeneral and the "Ministerial party toured the Bay of Islands electorate for a week after the celebrations; and once again the member for the district was ignored. ' The cost of the "Waitangi picnic," as it was termed, was also adversely criticised by Mr. Furniss, who added that ho had learned from a reliable source that the ultimata cost of tile celebrations would be in the vicinity of £100,000. The foregoing was referred to the Hon. J. A. Young, .Minister of Internal Affairs. "I can say definitely," said Mr. Young, "that Captain Rushworth and Mrs. Rushworth, along with every other member of both Houses of the Legislature, wore asked to the Waitangi celebrations by invitation over the Prime Minister's signature on Dceem'ber 12, ]933. Captain Rushworth • did not reply to the invitation extended to him. It was reasonable to presume that as the local member for the district, notwithstanding his failure, to acknowledge the Prime Minister |s invitation, he would bo present on the occasion, and consequently reservations were made of a seat on the official stand bohind the dais for Captain Rushworth and Mrs. Rushworth. These seats were not claimed." ...
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19340302.2.112
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 52, 2 March 1934, Page 8
Word Count
310WAITANGI INVITATION Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 52, 2 March 1934, Page 8
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in