PARLIAMENTARY

Inangahua Times, 22 August 1931, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY

if. (CnitcJ Press Assn.) T FINANCIAL sTATIIMIINT " / DEBATE INTERRUPTED DIfAMATIC CHAKOB IN SITUATION <- . WELLINGTON, Last Night. ' The political sitnation underwent a sn Men c hance this afternoon xvhen the *leht:»- •- O. «... ; » - s-afetr -nt -\" interrupted to allow , b e leader of the Opposition. .Mr Coates, to submit a motion, proposing a conference of representative, of all Parties in the Hon*., to decide tvnvs and means of meeting the present serious economic jmuation. Bv special leave of the House, 311 Coates rose and moved at 2.30 that in «he opinion of this House, the serious ec-onomie and financial position of this Dominion necessitates urgent and .im mediate action to cope with the fall in the National income as revealed be the latest figures and the consequence"

nnsing therefrom. That, with thi object in view, it be a reeommenda tion to the Government that represen tatives of political parties should be vaUed together in order to decide whai remedial steps should be taken to ad just the National expenditure and pro vide for equality of sacrifice and tin proper distribution of burdens. That in arriving at its conclusions, this Con. mittee should obtain the best' expert advice and assistance from financierand others, and that in order to enable .such an inquiry to be carries! out, Parliament should be adjourned for a short period and farther consideration be given to the position when the Committee reports to the House or th< Government.

Mr Coates said the Reform Peru had had many conferences during the past fortnight and before reaching r decision, there were two courses open to the Party: One, to go to an im mediate election and the other to ar rive at a decision. He had indicate.'

it was felt it would occupy tw< months at least, to go to an election, and his Party had decided that the time had arrived for all Parties tc come together in an endeavour tc meet the position. One of the reasons why Reform w !« so concerned, was that it had beer

receiving S.OJS. signals from farmer.«nd others whose positions were desperate.

The whole country depended oi. pritnary industries and unless there was relief for them there would be trouble for the Dominion. Mr Coates referred to some of the most serious economy aspects in the Dominion and said he moved the motion with a view to taking the opinion of the House.

The Prime Minister had | dis.-ussed the position with him and also the Leader of the Labour Party. The Reform Party had discussed every possible alternative and had decided the steps they were taking were the best in the interests of the county

The Prime Minister. Mr Forbes, said k« welcomed the resolution and: he could not but agree with the eonclu-' sion arrived at by the Leader of the Opposition. He had felt for a long time that the financial position coul*‘ not be dealt with by a minority Government.

Firsrt and foremost there was the question of farmers’ finances and that problem loomed up very large. Then there was the question of local body •finance. Local bodies did not know where they would be able to find the money to meet the interest on loans. The Government’s budget was a straightforward and honest one, but there was a serious weakness, the use of reserves. When the reserves were taken, it was necessary to have some plan for the future. He regarded the proposal to set up a Committee es valuable and he would welcome the -fullest investigation of the finances of public, local body and private, by an Independent Committee. If it brought down recommendations, the House would have to consider them very seriously. He suggested ■that the Committee should consist erf three Members from the Government,

three from the Opposition and three from the Labour Party and one from the Independents. An independent

Committee could be »et up to repor* os the financial mattebs consisting of a representative of the Government

Treasury, economists, business men and others - w - v Mr Forbes said that id the previous offer he had made it had been said the "Labour Party had not bee** Included. It was not invited by name but the invitation had included all those who had the interests of the country at heart and that should have been wide enough.

One of the matters the Committee would have to consider would be the .postponement of the elections. Labour voices: “Oh.** The question of an adjournment of the House could be settled by the Committee which couTd meet on Monday and make a recommendation to the House as to the period of adjourL ment that would be required. The Labour Leader, Mr H. E. Holland, said his Party readily agreed to the resolution being moved * and tc the setting up of a committee. The proposals were in line with th< motion by the Member for Lytteltoi on the 20th March last, when it was recommended in the amendment to th< Finance Bill that Members of Pai liament be assembled at a round tabl

I conference to formulate proposals by I monos of resolutions and that when I they were agreed upon, the proposals should be subsequently embodied in a llilJ. The resolution to be: (1) Taxation based on ccjuality of sacrifice and ability to pay; (*J » ways and means to render immediate ass : stance to farmers and ultimately ners of risks v>f foreign trade. That motion had expressed practically everything that was in the resolution now before the House. Unfortunately, Mr McCombs’ amendment was voted down and -the action it recommended was not- taken. Mr Holland submitted that it was a far more appropriate time than the present to take the action of the nature now proposed.- The motion before the House really meant the recasting of the L-dgct. If it did not mean that it meant futility. It also opened up the whole of the political situation.

The Labour Party had always been ready to confer with the other parties, but had never-been invited to do so and it had been left out in a most studied way. The Labour Party was wholly opposed to an adjournment of the House which would only create a panic and lo more harm than good. He hoped that no section of the House would give a thought to the postponement of the elections 9

There could be no more grave breach of the confidence of the people and the Labour Party would vigorously oppose any suck move and nothing would do more to spread discontent amongst the people. Nothing had been gained by disfranchising the people in a time of crisis and the postponement of the elections would be an invitation to th° people to use unconstitutional means o secure their ends.

H« asked if the Leader of the. CXpposition was willing to delete the last paragraph of the motion, for' if it remained, Labour would, have to vote

against it. Mr Poison said he could not «ee how a National Government could function with an election in view. Logically, vvhat Mr Coates had 1 proposed involved a postponement of the elections and he thought an adjournment would be necessary, otherwise there might be confusion througlr Parliament legsilating in' the meantime along the linos opposed to in the ultimate recommendations of the Committee. Mr Coates agreed to Mr Holland’s suggestion to delete the reference to a.n adjournment for a short period and with, that amendment, Mr Coates’s motion was adopted unanimously. The House then adj%irliecL till next week to enable the Parties to discuss .he position.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE E KTRESENT ATLY life SELECTED WELLINGTON, Last Night. The following have been selected to represent respective Parties on the Parliamentary Committee, to review the financial and economic position of the country: — The Government: Hons Forbes, Ransom, Ngata. Reform: Hons Coates and. Stewart and Mr Jor.cs. Labour: Messrs' H. E; Holland, Savage and McCombs. INDEPENDENT REPRESENTATIVE NOT SELECTED WELLINGTON, Last Night. The Independents have not selected their one representative. Messrs Wilkinson and Rushwortk being away from Wellington, it was decided to defer selection until Monday. Urgent messages were despatched requesting their return. It is generally believed that Mr Wilkinson will be tkeir choice.