The Missing Documents— Political Dynamite In Mr. Holland’s Allegation

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 April 1950, Page 2

The Missing Documents— Political Dynamite In Mr. Holland’s Allegation

WELLINGTON, This /Day (0.C.). —A first-class political “dustup” is in the offing over the alleged action of defeated Cabinet Ministers in the Labour Government in faking away important official documents when they vacated their offices in Parliament Buildings last December. The coming battle threatens to vie with the “Scrimgeour case and the “Holmes satchel incident” in political significance. So far the Prime Minister, Mr Holland, has not chosen to divulge the contents of the official papers and documents which he claims were away. He has said enough, however, in describing them as of the “highest top secret” type, containing information which should only be in the possession of the Governihent.

Observers around Parliament Buildings have known confidently for some time that Mr Holland was perturbed over the absence of a number of important .papers. The Prime Minister made his first .public reference to the missing papers in the course of an address in Christchurch last week. When approached by a reporter after the meeting, he. refused, to give any more details. It must have been with, some perturbation that Mr Holland picked up his morning papei' in Christchurch this week and found that the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Fraser, had “blown the gaff” by handing copies of the correspondence to members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.

Unusual Procedure Mr Fraser is a shrewd enough campaigner to know that this procedure is unusual, but he excused his action by saying that Mr Holland already had mentioned the matter in a public statement. In view of the latest development, political observers are recalling some statements made in the House of Representatives last year by the then Prime Minister, Mr Fraser. The information section of the Prime Minister’s Department was under fire, and the present Minister of Labour, Mr Sullivan, asked Mr Fraser if,, in the event of the Government going cut, all the files would remain. Mr Fraser replied: “This will definitely be so in the information section. As for personal matters, it has always been the rule to destroy all personal material in the office. When I became a Minister there were only bare shelves in my office. All departmental files, however, were returned to the departments. “When the previous Government vacated office, it destroyed all the material relating to external affairs, but with the increased importance of external affairs such an action now would be a crime. Any Government will have to see that all the relevant files are preserved.”

Bonfires And Bare Rooms

What Mi- Fraser said about the previous Government is perfectly true. There' are still many who recall vividly the completely bare rooms which the new Labour Minister inherited. Some even had no pictures on the walls, and bonfires had been burning for days as reports and documents were burned. The same did not happen last December. In fact, one new Minister in the Holland Government speaks quite openly about the amount of help given him by his predecessor. He has said publicly that, he hopes that when his time comes to lay down office he will do so as gracefully and helpfully. But this example, apparently, is not general. For instance, the previous Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, took at least three lorry loads of files to his home in Lower Hutt. With an obsession for hoarding files, Mr Nash has always kept much of his work at his home. The

rest'was scattered around his office —sometimes feet high. But now, the three lorry loads of files, lie in the sun porch of his Lower Hutt home and in his garage there. Iv is not known whether any of these documents are those in question, but Mr Nash certainly took a great deal away with him. It is quite possible that even he does not yet know what he actually has at his home. For nearly a week before the Holland Ministry moved in, large wooden handcarts were trundled around the offices of the defeated Labour Ministers. Secretaries and Minister with their coats off worked day and night sorting out the accumulation of 14 years.

Mr Fraser’s Light Load Mr Fraser himself took very little from his office on the top floor- of Parliament Buildings to the unprepossessing roorh in the old Library Wing used by the Leader of the Opposition. He travelled light with only three or four brown paper parcels. Mr Fraser has offered to return any papers required when the bundles are sorted out, and he says that he is sure ■ the same attitude will be adopted by his former Ministerial colleagues.

There are bound to be misunderstandings and mistakes during a change-over, but Mr Holland is sufficiently cautious not to rush into some of the serious allegations he has made. Much more will be heard of the “missing letters.”