BILLS PASSED

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1945, Page 5

BILLS PASSED

FOR WOOL DISPOSAL And Bush Workers’ Safety P.A. .WELLINGTON. Nov. 23. Two Bills were passed and fournew ones were introduced in the House of Reoresentatives this afternoon. The Wool Disposal Bill gives legislative approval to an agreement, between the Governments of the; United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in relationto the disposal of wool. Details of the agreement were contained in a report of the London wool conference tabled in the House earlier in the sessioi). The Bill establishes a wool disposal commission of seven - members and one associate member as follows: Four representatives of the New Zealand Government,, one of whom shall be chairman; • three representatives of the Wool Board, be- 1 ing elected members of the board;• one associate member, who is to be* nominated by the New Zealand Wool Brokers’ Association. The functions, of the commission are to act as a” subsidiary in New Zealand of the wool joint organisation formed in London, and comprising representatives of the four Governments. In so acting the subsidiary will carry out all duties necessary in the implementation of the wool disposal plan, which is given as a schedule • to the Bill. The Wool Industry Ac- .. count, established under the Marketing Act is to be abolished, and any moneys in it will be transferred to a new account, a Wool' Disposal Account, to be established at the Reserve Bank. Provision is made for a contributory charge on all wool produced in New Zealand, the rate, of which will be prescribed from time to time by regulations. The commis- - sion may arrange, with the consent . of- the Minister, that any. of its functions may be performed by the Export Division of the Marketing De- • partment. The commission is not to borrow or mortgage any of its pro- • perty without the consent of the - Minister of Finance. It shall be ex- . empt from all taxation, and an annual report is to be presented to Parliament. If the moneys for the ■ time being in the Wool Disposal Ac- ;' count are not sufficient to enable the ■- commission to exercise its functions, the Minister of Finance may ad- . vance to it, from the Public Account, ; such sums as may, in his opinion, b< necessary. Advances may also be - made from the National Development ; Loans Account. Legislation is to be , brought into force on a date to be ; fixed by proclamation. The Diplomatic Privileges Extension Bill confers diplomatic privileges and immunities in respect to the archives and documents of international organisations in New Zealand. Mr Fraser said the Bill gave effect to Article 105 of the United Nations Charter in regard to representatives either of United Nations or international organisations, such as U.N.R.R.A., th© Food and Agriculture Organisation, and the World Educational Organisation, if they set . up offices in New Zealand. It placed them in the same position as consuls. Similar legislation had been passed in Britain and other nations would be doing the same. The, question of immunities from rates and taxation was a matter for the Min- - ister of Finance. Other Bills introduced during the . afternoon’ were the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill, and the Local Legislation Bill. All four Bills were read the first time. ' . The Bush Workers’ Bill was passed. Hon. Mr O’Brien said _ that a large number of workers in , New . Zealand did not come within any pro- ; tective legislation, and bush work- .- ers were among them. Some timber millers were very careful and provided good equipment, including conveyances for men travelling to work over bush tramlines. But other millers were less careful and men were „ travelling in dangerous jiggers over dangerous tracks. Too frequently there were accidents in the bush, not always due to faulty equipment, but some times due to poor organisation. Mr O’Brien said inspectors would be the key men in giving effect to the < Bill. They would have, to know’ - their job thoroughly, and if they did, _ they were likely to help in the pro- ; duction of timber and not hamper it. There might be mill workers who . knew their' job so well that they could serve as inspectors, but at present he was inclined to think the inspectors would have to be encrineers. * * Mr W. J. Polson (Nat., Stratford) . said the powers of protection which other workers enjoyed should be extended to bushmen who were in one of New- Zealand’s most dangerous occupations. Hon. C. F. Skinner said tfiat the Bill was overdue, and it contained ■■ every provision against accident to, the worker. An important part of ( the measure was its provision for in- . SP Mr W. S. Goosman (Nat.. Waikato) r said that in spite of all precautions, accidents would happen. If the Bill were responsible for saving one life . it would be justified. Hon. C. F. Skinner, speaking to , the second reading of the Valuation of Land Amendment Bill, said it cor- . reeled rating anomaly whereby land used in connection State , housing , must legally have the unimproved - value assessed on a lower value than privately owned land. This conces- _ sion applied not only to State rental . houses, but to private individuals, •* when land was subdivided, improved and sold. There were adjacent sec- - lions in various parts of New Zealand f where the rates were different, though the values were the same, ;■ and this position had led to much dispute. The Act ironed out that anomaly. The most important of the Bill’s amendments was a change in assessment in an effort to achieve H more uniformity in the establishment ■ of rating values. The Bill provided for local body representation on Assessment Courts hearing objections to the valuation of property. If the j local authority fails to appoint a representative, the Governor-General-in-Council may do so. Amendments made to the Servicemen’s Settlement and Land Sales Amendment Bill by the Lands Committee were reported back to the ; House. The original clause dealing with the right of an owner to retain ; an economic holding stated that in a case where the owner was himself living on the land and farming it . for the support of himself and his dependents, he should have the right to retain an area sufficient to support - an average efficient farmer and his * dependents, but the committee'has - struck out the reference to living on the land and made it apply to cases i where the owner is farming the land. Another amendment brings the personal representative or trustee in ••• the estate of a deceased person with- E in the scope of the definition of an ■ owner. The committee has-- also amended the Bill so that part three of the principal Act, which deals with . the control of the sale and leases of land, shall apply to all leases for two - years or more. The clause stating that urban land withdrawn from sale can be sold within six months ■■ only to a serviceman, has lheen ;i amended by extending the period to ” 12 months. 'i s The New Zealand Council for Edu- • cational Research Bill and Patents '■ Designs and Tradesmarks Amend- S ment Bills were passed. C The House rose at 5L30- till Tues--day at 2.30 p.m.