Hastings Gasholder

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 236, 18 September 1936, Page 5

Hastings Gasholder

ATTENTION URGENT High Pressure Main To Be Laid from Napier BILL GIVEN PRIVILEGE (By Telegraph—Special to “Tribune.”) WELLINGTON, Sept. 18. A strong protest against the Standing Orders of the House being discarded was entered by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, in the House to-day when a move was made on behalf of the Hon. W. E. Barnard to have the Napier Gasworks Amendment and Enlargement Bill, a private measure, treated as a public bill.

Mr. Savage said such action would not be permitted after this session.

Mr. F. Schramm (Govt., Auckland East), who moved the motion on behalf of Mr. Barnard, the member in charge of the Bill, explained the unusual circumstances which required the suspension of the Standing Orders to enable the Bill to proceed, although ite preliminaries had not been carried out within a certain period of the commencement o‘ the session. The gas company supplied both Napier and Hastings, and during the earthquake its gasholder in Hastings was severely strained. Recent independent expert advice was obtained regarding this holder and the company was informed that it must receive immediate attention, which would necessitate the holder being put out of use. Consequently the gas company proposed to lay down a high pressure main from the Napier works to the Hastings reticulation, which would prevent inconvenience to the Hastings consumers during the period of repair. He understood that the Bill had the approval of the local authorities. PRACTICE MUST STOP. Mr. Savage, who had previously objected to the frequent suspension of the Standing Orders on private and local bills, made another protest. “I think, 1 must say,” he declared, “that this has to have a stopping place. After this session this kind of thing will be blocked, because it is unfair to members and to everyone else for Bills to come in under these circumstances. There is a semblance of a case for this Bill, but it is not the only one and small excuses will not do.”

Mr. W. J. Polson (Nat., Stratford): Don’t scold us. (Laughter.) Mr. Savage: No; I am just warning, particularly the member for Stratford, because he might stray from the narrow path. lam talking to local bodies and private individuals, telling them that they must live up to the Standing Orders. OTHER OFFENCES. There was hearty laughter when Mr. E. J. Howard (Govt., Christchurch South) then rose to move, on behalf of Mr. Barnard, the suspension of two Standing Orders to enable the Hawke's Bay Rivers Amendment Bill to be introduced. Its purpose, he eaid, was to give effect to the recommendations of the committee of inquiry set up by the Government concerning the boundaries of wards and rating. It had received Cabinet approval, but legislation was necessary before the proposals could become operative, and it was desirable to enforce them as soon as possible. It had been impossible to comply with the Standing Orders relating to advertising the Bill within 30 days of the session opening, as the inquiry was not completed till June and the session commenced last March. The House again accepted the motion for the suspension of the Standing Orders, only to be faced with still another motion of the same sort moved by Mr. J. G. Barclay (Govt., Marsden), “with all due diffidence,” in -e--spect to a Bay of Islands local Bill. Finally Mr. W. T. Anderton (Govt.. Eden) obtained a similar concession, giving the Auckland Harbour Board Empowering Bill authority to proceed.