26 Speakers In First Debate

Northern Advocate, 5 July 1947, Page 6

26 Speakers In First Debate

Parliament. . .

(Special) WELLINGTON, This Day. The first week of the Address-in-Reply debate produced 26 speakers. No Ministers took part yesterday. The House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 2.30 on Tuesday. Mr E. B. Corbett (O —Egmont) asked where was honour in the House and Government when the pledges it made to the Waikato coal mine owners were not kept. There was mention of conserving the nation’s coah resources in the Speech from the Throne, but every winter we had a good example of “conservation” when people found they were unable to purcnase supplies.

The Minister of Mines (Mr McLagan): We are only producing 1,000,003 tons a year more than under the last Government, that’s all. Mr Corbett said that never in the history of this country was there greater need for some realistic approach to the problem of shortages, particularly tnose shortages which affected the well-being of children. REHABILITATION WORK Mr W. A. Hudson (G—Mornington), who was making his maiden speech, praised the outstanding work done in the rehabilitation of returned servicemen, especially those who suffered disablement and had been assisted through the disabled servicemen's training centres. He mentioned the case of Mr W. Black, of Christchurch, who lost both his hands.

Ordinarily a man with those grave disabilities would have been of no use in industry, but he had been assisted bv the construction of a special loom to enable him to weave cloth and already he had made nearly 100 yards of cloth.

The only assistance he required was when the thread broke and it had to be mended for him.

This" assistance was given by his wife, who had formerly been his nurse.

Mr Hudson’s reference to the skill and courage of this disabled serviceman drew warm commendation from both sides of the House. DEFENCE TRAINING

Mr J. A. Roy (O —Clutha), discussing the question of defence, said every youth in the country should be trained. He did not suggest there should be great expenditure on an extensive scheme, but rifle clubs should receive encouragement, and there should be opportunities for specialists and those who had made a name for themselves in the last war to go overseas and study the latest methods of training. He suggested that a council should be set up comprising representatives of the services and representatives of all industries to determine the size of the force New Zealand should be committed to.

The whole syste mof training was in the melting pot, and he hoped the atom bomb would be outlawed. Mr W. T. Anderton (G—Auckland Central) said the Opposition complained of controls, but they should be told frankly that controls would be re- . tained where they were clearly in the j interests of the people, i VALUE DURING WAR ; None would deny that price controls [ and stabilisation had been of value during the war when people were engaged in destroying wealth. How much more valuable were these controls now that the country had returned to the peaceful production of wealth. | . Mr C. M. Bowden (O—Karori) advocated an all-out effort to help Britain j by taking more exports from her to assist her in maintaning her level cf employment and by supplying more food than we were already doing. ! A speedier turn-round of ships was J the most practical means of shipping more food away. In this time of the Empire’s crisis New Zealanders should be prepared to J work three shifts on the waterfront, as • was done in wartime, to get vessels . away promptly.