RETAINING SEATS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20242, 9 May 1940, Page 4

RETAINING SEATS

ANSWER TO CRITICS MR. BARNARD’S STAND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE TERM OF PARLIAMENT (Pol- Press Association*.) AUCKLAND, this day. A declaration that he did not intend to resign from the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, nor did he or Mr. J. A. Lee, the member for Grey Lynn, intend to resign their seats in the House was made by the Hon. W. E. Barnard, the member for Napier, in his address in the Auckland Town Hall last evening. Stating that lie had twice been elected as Speaker of the House and constitutionally by the whole House, Mr. Barnard said his election was for the whole term of Parliament. It was a position he intended to retain. It would have been easier for him to keep out of trouble and do nothing, but after due consideration he had decided that he could not stand aside and quietly witness the deterioration of the Labour Party, the wilful destruction of democracy and the infiltration of Fascist ideas. The New Zealand Labour Party was not completely Fascist, but it was rapidly going in that direction. For about 18 months there had not been majority rule in the caucus. It had not applied in the election of the Cabinet and in the question of taking over the Bank of New Zealand. Criticism of Conference There was a growing disposition on the part of some Ministers to resent opposition or criticism. The conference was no longer a body of people who conferred. It was a crowd in which it was possible to indulge in a great deal of “log rolling’' and even trickery. He said quite calmly that both these principles had been practised at the last two conferences. Issues on which they had been permitted to vote were carefully selected and full debate was not permitted except in the interests of certain powerful individuals. Forms of democracy were still used as in Germany and Russia, but he who said anything not favoured was dealt with in a variety of subtle ways. Dominance in Party There was an increasing dominance of the Labour Party by five or six powerful industrial leaders. There were one or two of them in this city. The delegates to the conference were handpicked and those who did not happen to be in a centre had no direct representation. (Cries of dissent.) “I tell you there are 800 members of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union in Hawke’s Bay with no direct representation,” Mr. Barnard said. "Some of us fought 20 years ago against that very tyranny and we are not disposed to yield to modern Prussianism in New Zealand to-day,” he added. A voice: Why bring that up? Mr. Barnard: Oh, I know it is a very uncomfortable thing for some people. The National Party stood for the past, Mr. Barnard added, and the Labour Party for the present and the maintenance of things as they were at present. The Democratic Labour Party stood for the future.