THE ESTIMATES

Grey River Argus, 6 September 1939, Page 11

THE ESTIMATES

MAORI BATTALION. N.Z. RADIO VERACITY QUESTIONED. WELLINGTON, September 5. In the House this afternoon, discussing the Internal Affairs Department, estimate, Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Independent, Egmont) suggested that, in view of the present war with Germany, it might be desirable to postpone the Centennial Exhibition. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. W. E. Parry, replying, said that it already had been announced that the Exhibition was going on, as were the Centenary celebrations, and with this view he fully concurred. , We should face up to the difficulties of the present time, and carry them through to the end, he said. But, at the same time, we should also carry on with our ordinary daily lives as much as possible, and the holding .01 the Exhibition and the Centennial celebrations would be a step in this direction. The vote was passed. The possibility of-the revival of the Maori Pioneer Battalion was mentioned by the Minister of Derente, Hon. F. Jones, when the Army estimate was under discussion. Mr Jones, in answer to a question] bv Mr Tirikatene (Govt., Southern, Maori) said he had received many re-] presentations recently for such a step, | and, at present, he was consulting- nis • officials on the matter. Discussing the broadcasting vote, which also comes under the control of Hon. F. Jones, as Mimster-in-Chargd of Broadcasting, Hon. A. Hamilton suggested that there might be a reduction of say 5s in the hcensee fee in view of the substantial credit balance from the National Broadcastthat he did not consider any reduction of the fees could be- made at present, improvements and advances that weie “’a Holland (Nat.. Christchurch North) urged that steps be taken to see that statements made> on the air during the “Man in the Sticet session were somewhere near the tr The Minister said that he did not think that there would be any abuse of privileges during the “Man in the Street” session, and he also expressed the opinion that a great number of people appreciated that particular sesS 1 °The V House adjourned at 5.30 for tea. Resuming the .discussion on the •Broadcasting Estimates in the House after 730 Mr W. J. Polson (Nationalist, Stratford), asked that care should be taken to see that political partisanship was not broadcast over Hon P Fraser intimated that the Directors of both the Commercial and the National services had agreed on one hundred per cent, co-operation during the crisis, and had also decided that anything in the nature of partisanship would be eliminated from any broadcasts. He thanked both services for their co-operation and efficient service to the country during the ' past few days of tension.

FEAR OF FARM LABOUR SHORTAGE. The Minister of Labour (Hon. P. C. Webb), on the Labour Department vote, replying to Mr Polson, who mentioned. the possibile difficulty of a shortage of farm labour through the young men enlisting, said that he fully realised the seriousness of the position, and, as soon as the House rose, ways and means would be evolved to see.that every farmer needing labour to produce the things that the coun-

try needed would be given that labour. A conference would also be held shortly between representatives of labour and the manufacturers to make an economic survey of the whole of the -manufacturing industries. The House could rest assured that, where consumable goods were being produced and labour was needed, it would be provided, and industry would be kept going. He intended to co-operate one hundred per cent.

£25,000,000 PASSED IN DAY. PARLIAMENT BLDGS. Sept. 5. Rapid progress was made with the Estimates throughout the remainder of the evening. When the Primary Products Marketing Account was under consideration several members of the Opposition wished to know if a deficit of over a million pounds in the Dairy Account last season would affect the] guaranteed price for dairy produce] this season. The Minister of Marketing (Hon. W. Nash) who was making his first appearance in the House since his arrival back from England, stated that the system of fixing the guaranteed price would not be affected by die deficit. All of the ordinary Estimates (with the exception of the Public Works Estimates, which still remain to be dealt with) were put through by 10.15 p.m. Altogether twenty-seven classes of Estimates had been dealt with during the day, the amount affected approximating £25,000,000.