GOVERNMENT MEASURES

Northern Advocate, 18 April 1933, Page 6

GOVERNMENT MEASURES

|V LABOUR OPPOSITION "it*..- - ' - ' - ME. HOLLAND’S STRICTURES. |4v/‘ ;C-; - * ' - ; OTTAWA AND AFTER. 3, ; v : I?' ■ ' ■£' J (Special to “Norther** Advocate.” - ) * AUCKLAND, This Day.

p. "• The legislation of the past 12 |i- months, and the part played by the Labour Party in opposing Governrment measures are dealt with in the annual report of the Parliamentary SV? "Labour Party presented to the Lab- £;■ .bur Conference by the leader, Mr H. |t‘> E. Holland, M.P. .

yb, ‘“The Coalition’s legislation of last

0.,..-.year,. as well as that of the present

A'l > year as far as it has gone, has been iemajrkable for its faulty prepara--.tion/’-said the report. “In the case of ‘ almost every important measure, ■Jr-v numerous amendments were found to necessary after the , original bill f/y : . had* been introduced. When the Natiqnal Expenditure Adjustment Bill was- before the House some 20 amendSpA meats - were brought down by Gover-||b/nor-General’s Message before the fiustages of- the bill were reached. . ‘ “ The Ottawa agreement embodies &V ‘an arrangement that seriously men: Spaces’ secondary industries of New Zea'pSf land. The ; agreement .provides, inter py alia,, that the protective duties tyhich our local industries shall % -be reduced to a level that will place f\; ; 'the,United Kingdom manufacturers on j7-A.an,'equal footing with the New; ZedA%<land manufacturers, in the matter of .'“ln October the Prime Minister to secure the approval of the V-;,JHouse for the Ottawa agreement, and I’V-. the Labour Party presented an amend*o£ment‘: ‘Except in so far as the ichange.-tends to destroy the measure |fly. of protection accorded by the existing ' Jaws, to commodities which can econvomically be produced in New Zealand, - and always provided that neeessanies which . cannot be produced in |-.U New Zealanii shall come in duty free.’ gfC The- amendment was defeated on a |A;/party •. vote. 1 ‘ The Ottawa agreement again came .Bill,was before the House. The Labunr Party, forced divisions against the ;A;'different clauses which struck at the industries of New Zealand. All LabSjA.our amendments were rejected mainS|i Jy; qn party divisions. \

|:vv' - Broadcast Anomaly. ‘The. manner in which the Radio Broadcasting Board permits the broadcasting of ‘Government speeches, ||/while denying the Opposition any facility whatsoever in this- direction, one of. the greatest scanIj Vdals of departmental ’ administration, &-/;Which it is* to be hoped will not be |'v-:allowed to continue. In committee of jSaysupiply ■in November, when the Post r-yTand Telegraph estimates were under; irU‘idiseussion, the Labour Party moved jwy/an /amendment challenging the action ofthe Radio* Broadcasting Board in the nse of the radio service ;’4-to. members of the Government and I'yui’ging that the use of • the air for broadcasting must be free to both j£4'-side3 of the House or to Mono. This was defeated on a party vote of |(UI to 24.” ■ ' V - ; ' ' The report concluded: <f The foregoing report is a record of: the legis* lyTlation which has been put through -since last Easter; and it is not necesyysary, to stress the menace of it from a working-class viewpoint. Nor should pyit be necessary to add that the ter-

•tr rible' .experiences through which the -■. people are now passing constitute the price .which must be paid for the fail•f.l.nre •of ‘ the Labour movement in the jy'past to appreciate adequately the is'U sues ajfc stake. We are now paying, for jv. xthe apathy and treachery of the, secip' tions that oppose contributions to the party funds that advocated making ballot papers informal and other simii lar stupidities. -- * ‘ Coining Contest. ’’ l V' . “Shortly we may be called upon to v/take part in another contest for the y- control of New Zealand, and 't ' in that case —in the light of the heavy ; J .' price that we are now required to pay xbecause of these tactics in the past —the protagonists of disunity within

:'r ■-the Labour movement and the open V enemies without should find no audi- :."\ cnce in either the unions or the party /’ branches, or in the wider field outY’.side. In the coming (contest it must be laid down that whoever opposes V the Labour movement in its fight for V-, political power will be regarded as :-’having definitely ranged himself against the workers and on the side

- of the wages and pensions reducers ■ ■ —in other words, on the side of the £ ■ Tory dictatorship.’ ’ Y ' The report was adopted and the L - following resolution was carried: —■ /..“That this conference congratulates the Labour members of Parliament, ’. and the member for .Southern Maori, on the splendid fight against the reV- actionary and uneconomic legislation .‘V introduced by the Forbes-Coates G Government, and records its appreciof the efforts which have been \ made-by the Labour members in inlegislation and submitting that would, if adopted, cnthe Dominion to overcome the economic problems and lead Dominion to a position that would Bguarantee to all who render useful • service a full share of the income could be made available from bur;natural resources.” ' ■ y" •• ill!§;■ ■ ,