Parliament

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 245, 29 September 1922, Page 2

Parliament

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Imprest Supply Bill was passed. The State Advances Amendment Bill was reported without amendment. The discussion on the Hon. J. MacGregor’s Juries Amendment Bill was resumed and after many expressions of opinion for and against majority verdicts the bill was read the second time. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. SHIPPING AND SEAMEN’S BILL. Sir John Luke brought down the report of the Labour Bills Committee on the Shipping and Seamen’s Amendment Bill, which the committee suggested be allowed to proceed with the amendment made by them. The amendments, he said, were mainly of a machinery nature. The committee had deleted the first schedule increasing the fees payable by masters, mates and engineers for examination, and the second schedule increasing fees for the engagement and discharge of crews. Incidentally he paid a compliment to the enterprise of the Union Company in introducing to these waters such an up-to-date ship as their new motor driven steamer Hauraki. Mr. E. J. Howard pointed out that the bill proposed to raise light duties chargeable on shipping to the extent of £25,000 per annum, which additional charge would, of course, be passed on to the public, which must result in increased fares and freights. This was clearly a taxation proposal and he wished that farmers and others who were asking for cheaper freights should understand that/ The report was adopted. I BILL DONE TO DEATH. i Sir John Luke brought down the ' report of the Labour Bills Committee on the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Six Day Week Bill. The committee recommended that the bill be ! not allowed to proceed, as the coin- ! mittee was of opinion that the'ArhitraI .tfjon Court had power to do all the bill asked for. Mr. P. Fraser thanked the committee for the kindly manner in which for the fourth time they had done the bill to death. NEAR EAST NEWS. The Premier announced that he had received an unofficial message to the effect that Kemal Pasha had agreed to a conference, which, he said, looked more like i>eace than any news they had had for some days. JUDICATURE AMENDMENT. The Hon. E. P. Leo moved the ' second reading of the Judicature Amendment Bill, whicn provides that | any two instead of three members of the same division of the Court of Appeal should have the power to deliver judgments of the Court or 'hear applications for leave to appeal to the j Privy Council. Tile bill was designed to avoid delays by reducing the number of judges who would have to sit. Mr. T. M. Wilford welcomed the bill, hut thought thw time had arrived when the work done by judges should be reconsidered. We should have more judges of the Supreme Court and we should have another judge of the Arbitration Court, The Minister replied, and the bill was read the third time. STATE FIRE INSURANCE. i The Hon. J. G. Coates moved the seconding reading of the State Fire Insurance Bill, explaining that outside its machinery clauses it made provision for the division of bonuses amongst policy holders. Mr. T. K. Siclev said the Minister had not told the House what was the tinancial position of the State Fire Insurance office and whether it was such as to warrant the proposals in this bill. The existing law provided that before a distribution of bonuses took place there must be (1) an excess of profits over all charges and <2) that only excess profits' were to be distributed, and the distribution . was to tie amongst those who had been insuring tor three years, but these were not the provisions in the bill, which were not.as safe as those of the law to-day. He had no doubt i the reason the bill had been brought down in its present form was that the General Election was not far away, even so its provisions no doubt would be welcomed by many. Mr. Massey said Mr. Sidey must nave the General Election on the brain. The only reason the bill was brought down at all was that the head of the department had asked for it. Mr. H. E. Holland favoured fire insurance being made a State monopoly, but of course the Premier would I have nothing to do with that, bej cause he would not tolerate anything in the way of Socialism. The Minister replied he hoped the proposals in the bill would help to •popularise the office, but that the measure was a political move wus too absurd for consideration. POWER BOARDS AMENDMENT. | The Hon. J. G. Coates moved the second reading of the Electric Power Boards Amendment Bill, which, he said, was the result of experience, it not being possible to make provision | for every contingency when the original measure was passed. He recently had a conference with representa- . tives of power boards and as a result 1 of the exchange of opinions and experiences he would have a number of amendments to propose in the bill, but he did not propose to ask the House to reduce the number of members of power boards from 12 to 9. as proposed m the bill. Various features of the bill affecting local conditions were criticised by Messrs W. A. Veitch, J. Craigie, F. F. Hocklv. A. Harris, D. G. Sullivan and J. A. Nash. After the Minister had briefly replied the bill was read she second time and the House rose at 11.40 p.m.