ABUSE ALLEGED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 6, 7 July 1938, Page 6

ABUSE ALLEGED

POLITICAL BROADCASTING

An attack on the Government for what he described as the abuse of the broadcasting system for political purposes was made by Mr. S. G. Smith (National, New Plymouth). He said that the prostitution of broadcasting for party political purposes had roused the people. They had it almost every day.on the slightest pretence. Every array of Ministers and members of the Government was an occasion for broadcasting propaganda. - On Saturday, said Mr..Smith, people in New Plymouth wanted to listen in to a relay of a football game from Auckland, and instead they heard the opening of the new school at Orakei. "There were three Ministers there ahd a lot of members of Parliament, and they made speeches patting one another on the back," he said. "It Was converted from an ordinary fuhclidn into an array for political propaganda purposes. The people were'angry because of the use of a YA station for a local function. When we wanted to hear a football relay from Wellington we heard the Minister of" Railways, and I suppose if we had wanted to tune., in to the South Island we would have heard the Minister of Labour opening the Timaru Show." pie Minister of Labour (the Hon. H.

T. Armstrong): Yes, and it would have been worth while, toii.-. "A PUBLIC 'SCANDAL." Mr. Smith said that .the position was rapidly becoming 'a' pubfiq scandal. He referred to the "speech/ of the Minister of Marketing-at. New Plymouth when he announced . the additional guaranteed price pay-out. When, the questions came on the., broadcast was cut off, ;and;-the-questions were coming pretty hot and strong. "I was sitting on the platform," he said, "and it was not switched off on the operator's instructions." " " ; " Mr. Nash: Who switched it'off? Mr. Smith: An officer of the Minister's Department. Mr. Nash: I know nothing about it. That same evening,. continued Mr. Smith, they heard the speech of the Minister of Education for three hours at Dunedin. It was, the^-hon. Minister back on the soap-box again. He exaggerated and abused and misrepresented. Referring to remarks made by Mr. Schramm about * women canvassers being employed .by the National Party, Mr. Smith said that as far as<he knew there was not an atom pijtruth in the suggestion that' they were'going round telling such a story. "We -kn&w nothing about those kinds of '.tactics," he said, "and we would not countenance them." • At this point the Minister of Education interjected to quote an instance. "I will not be interrupted- by th« Minister," said Mr. Smith.' "I have only got half an hour; the' Minister had three hours. Mr. Fraser: I know. It is a falsehood. I will tell you Mr. Speaker: The lion. Minister must withdraw that word. . Mr. Fraser: I was. not referring to the hon. member. Mr. Speaker: I understood that you were. • ' ■ ' Mr. Fraser: I want ,to prove ■ th« truth. ' ' '• TO GAIN A FOOTING. Mr. D. W. 'Coleman (Government, Gisborne) said the National Party was using all sorts of tactics, to*"gain a footing with the electors. Boarding-house-keepers were being told that if the Government was, returned central boarding-houses would "be established and private enterprise done away with. •' '•' Mr. Poison: That's silly.Mr. Coleman: I know, but everythings the National Party does is silly. Shopgirls were being told that the Labour Party would abolish wages and they would be paid'• with paper tokens, he said. In reply to an interjection by Mr. Poison, Mr. Coleman said' he had heard a number of definitions of Socialism, but if the definition, of the member for Stratford was right he was not a Socialist.' On the other hand, if what the Government was doing was Socialism he was most emphatically a Socialist. The debate was adjourned by tha rising of the House at 10.30 pjn.