APPOINTMENT DEFENDED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 110, 5 November 1937, Page 6

APPOINTMENT DEFENDED

|< "The Opposition seem to be a bit ex- ' ■ eiicd over this Bill," said the. Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage). ; "There is just one..part of the whole ;■ • business: that. I. regret. During my I/eighteen years in this. House I don't S{ think I have ever known''the'''tactics J,-j 0 - be employed; that the Opposition are employing in this case. "I don't mind what they say about

me because, after all, I am the Minister responsible," continued Mr. Savage. "I think I am able to look after myself, but to attack men on the outside does not seem to be playing the game. In this case we have on the one hand the Key. Mr. Scrimgeour, the Controller of Commercial Broadcasting. He was appointed on my recommendation and I have no apology to make, not even to the Opposition. -Why was he appointed? Because I considered that he was the only man in New Zealand with a knowledge of commercial broadcasting. He, was a man who had made it his business to understand It from, A to Z. There was no other reason for his appointment." REQUEST FOR SALARY. Mr. Savage said that he and Mr. Scrimgeour had discussed the terms of the appointment, and the latter was not, sure what was a fair thing by way of commission. It was decided to try the business out, and Mr. Scrimgeour had been man enough to come to him and say that the business Was exceeding his wildest expectations and he asked to be put on a salary. There was nothing remarkable about the appointment. The Opposition wanted a Royal Commission, but they Were not going to get it. They could see everything in connection with broadcasting if they wished. An Opposition voice: Where is the report? Mr. Savage: The report will be hero before the honourable gentlemen are asked to discuss the accounts. We are not discussing the accounts now. We are discussing an amendment to the Act which is necessary to put this thing on a legal basis and which has nothing to do with ,the accounts. Unlike our predecessors, we will see that the report is tabled before the House is asked to pass them. Mr. Scrimgeour was good enough tn play an important . part in a great church, but evidently his moral standing was not high enough for him to be Controller of Commercial Broadcasting; continued Mr. Savage. Then there was Mr. John Stannage who, according to Mr. Hamilton, had changed his name. He was a man who had taken his life in his hands with the great pioneers of aviation such as the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Mr. C. P. Ulm. He. had never tried to cover up anything; he was the same John Stannage as in the past. Mr. Savage said that he regretted not only the direct statements, but the innuendoes in Opposition members' speeches. • ACCOUNTS OF SERVICE. "In the matter of the accounts we have had a Treasury officer there from the beginning, because it will be realised that the establishment of a commercial system is not just the simple thing that members seem to 'think it is," said Mr. Savage. "The whole thing must be put on a business footing, and r say again that Opposition members can go and look at anything so long as they do not interrupt the service, and I will see that they don't. "I know quite well what is wrong," declared Mr. Savage. "Mr. Scrimgeour has been striking at certain vested interests. (Government "Hear, hears.") Mr. Smith: A smoke-screen! Mr. Savage said that the idea of advertising over the air had been discussed in the House before Mr. Scrimgeour*fl appointment and it had been fought then by the newspapers and by certain members of the House. "It is being fought today by certain newspapers," he declared. "I don't mind that. They are going\on with their attack. Well, we are going on with the service." PEOPLE THE JURY. There had been complaints about propaganda going over the air, said Mr. Savage, referring to the Government news service. He wondered if the Opposition would fall in with the idea of paving, say, half an hour a week for 'broadcasting and the Government would have a similar period. What was going over the air was news for the benefit of the people and news that could not be contradicted. It might be possible to make an arrangement suitr able to both the Opposition and the Government, and the people could be the jury. -■' . "The honourable member for Parnell talks of the poor listener," said Mr. Savage. "He has a bleeding heart for him, and yet the poor listener is getting more for his 25s today than ever before since there has been a broadcasting system in New Zealand. There are 118,000 more listeners than when we came into office, and they are increasing at the rate of 1000 a week. There must be something right about that." ' : Mr. Savage devoted some time to the incident of the jamming,of IZB, Auckland, just before the last General Election. Mr. Endean had suggested that if Mr. Parry and Mr. Lee told all they knew they would be able to throw more light on the incident. Mr. Savage quoted from the report of the DirectorGeneral of the P. and T. Department, which, he claimed, made it quite clear that neither Mr. Parry nor Mr. Lee knew anything about the affair. However, the report of the Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department stated that the former PostmasterGeneral had given instructions that in certain eventualities the station should be put off the air. It had been pointed out that that would mean jamming, and Mr. Hamilton had agreed.SECTARIANISM. "Another thing I regret is that we have been on the verge of bringing sectarianism into this discussion," said Mr. Savage. "The member for Parnell has a bleeding heart for the Roman Catholic Church. That sounds curious to some of us." Sir Alfred Ransom: Who has a bleeding heart for the Communists? "Whatever-differences we may have let us keep sectarianism out of the

argument," said Mr. Savage. "Personally I would not mind putting Mr. Scrimgeour on the platform with any member of the Opposition, and I wouldn't mind betting that Mr. Scrimgeour would wipe the floor with him." . Mr. Broadfoot: As he has done with the Government. TITLE OF "REVEREND." "The Rev. Mr. Scrimgeour is a public servant," said the Prime Minister, "and he is criticised when he attempts to defend himself. There have been attempts to discredit him all along." Mr. Broadfoot: Is he the reverend? The Prime Minister: Yes, more so than the hon. gentleman. I have never met a man in my life in whom I have had greater confidence. An Opposition member: How about McArthur? ■. The Prime Minister: It is quite true that Radio Vision, Limited, contained McArthur, but as soon as the Government got on the track of that, Mr. McArthur went overboard. Attempts had been made from time to time to discredit .Mr. Scrimgeour, but he had emerged with flying colours. "I have never met a man I have had greater confidence in than the present Controller of Commercial Broadcasting," said Mr. Savage. SHARING OF DUTIES. Dealing with the contention that he himself should be in charge of the Broadcasting Bill and other Bills emanating from his Departments, Mr. Savage said that he and his colleagues worked on a co-operative basis. For instance, the Minister of Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone) was dealing with Native Affairs, but the Natives need not worry. He (Mr. Savage) was still Minister in charge of Native Affairs and his pledge to the Natives would stand as long as he lived to give effect to it. It was simply that he thought that other Ministers could do the job as well, if not better than himself, and that he could occupy his time better than in dealing with Bills. There was no "nigger in the woodpile." He and his colleagues were simply helping one another to carry through the programme outlined at the election. Mr. Savage paid a warm tribute to the Director of Broadcasting (Professor Shelley) for his enthusiasm, knowledge, and yision and said he felt sure that he was the right man for the job. He had been selected from a large number of i applicants. The appointment of Mr. Scrimgeour was a different matter altogether. The Government could have put people to a lot of trouble in applying for the position, but it knew that there was only one man suitable for it. ; "I am Minister of Broadcasting all right," he said, "and when the people lose confidence in me I will give it up as freely as I can, but that time has not come yet." •■ ■• Professor Shelley had never had anything to do with the commercial service. He had not been asked to play a part in it and had never had any dispute with Mr. Scrimgeour. TREATMENT BY PRESS. Mr. Savage repeated the assertion tflat the Press of New Zealand was not treating the Government fairly. "I discussed our broadcasting policy with Sir John Reith, the head of the 8.8.C. in England," said Mr. Savage. "He thought that if a Government undertook a radio news service it would be one-sided, but my reply was that the service /through the newspapers was one-sided, so there would not be much difference. I open the papers time after time and see Ministers of the Crown playing a very bad second' or third to ordinary rank and file members of the Opposition, and that is what they call the freedom of the Press. Well, we have got to get an alternative service. I don't know what it will be, but don't make any mistake; we are not going down' without a fight,' and the people who put us down will know they have been in a scrap." „ ' He was not speaking personally, ne added. A man was not paid to write the principles of the Sermon on the Mount but the policy of the newspaper, the vested, interests that- the Press was resting upon today, and he was not blaming that man for doing his job. ' ii_/ ■•■■ There was a saying that everything was fair in. love and war, said Mr. Savage, and he supposed there was a political war on at the present time, consequently he did not mind what the Opposition said about himself or his party, but he thought they should leave the man outside alone. If there were any complaints they could be brought to him and he would attend to them. . ! Before the last election he had said that the B stations were providing, a service that the people needed and that if the Labour Party were elected the B stations would continue, Mr. Savage said. Surely that did not mean that there would be no changes in control. He had said that if the Government did not buy the B stations they would be subsidised. ; Mr. Hamilton: There are only four left. . ■■ ' ■ ; Mr. Savage: Yes. > Mr. Hamilton: We subsidised eight in our time. Mr. Savage: We own the rest. Mr. Savage paid a tribute to the way in which the Postmaster-General (the Hon. F. Jones) had presented the Bill to the House, and Mr. Hamilton interjected, "Why don't you make him Minister of Broadcasting?" Mr. Savafe: Perhaps that's not far away, either. Other Ministers might take over other portfolios held by him, he added. The Prime Minister should not have his time, occupied signing letters. LOWER LICENCE FEE. The time would come, Mr. Savagfe added, and he did not think it was far away, when the listeners would receive their licences at a lower rate. ; "I don't blame the Opposition for criticising the Government," Mr. Savage concluded. "I have done some of it from over there, but I would sooner be batting than bowling if I may. put it that way. However, they are bowling all right. All they want is a new ball." ; !