REPORTED STATEMENT BY MR DOIDGE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 6 December 1940, Page 2

REPORTED STATEMENT BY MR DOIDGE

QUESTION IN HOUSE j [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter] WELLINGTON. This Day. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr S. G. Holland) found reason in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon ' to raise the issue of the propriety of a question placed on the Order Paper by ! i Mr E. P. Meachen (Marlborough) based ■ 1 on the reported utterance of the mem- ! J her for Tauranga (Mr Doidge). It was ; alleged by Mr Meachen in his question that the report of a speech by Mr Doidge was to the effect that New Zealand’s war effort was negligible, and that we had sent only a mere handful of men overseas. The questioner there- ’ j fore asked the Prime Minister whether, I in view of the far-reaching effect such ’ j statements might have on New Zealand’s war effort generally, and on the | British public, he would, in conjunej tion with the Leader of the Opposition, take suitable steps to curb “the misleading, extravagant, incorrect and ofI ten irresponsible statements which have j been appearing.” A prompt protest against this quesj tion being tabled was made by the ‘ j Leader of the Opposition, who ques- : tioned whether the member for Marlj borough was entitled in this way to i i make such assertions, giving Mr Doidge )! no opportunity of reply. It would not i make for unity of war effort, he added, j | Mr Speaker stated that the question i •! was placed on the Order Paper, as it j ' j was not made urgent j Mr Holland: And with no chance of 11 discussing it. | An Opposition Member: Bad taste. ; Mr Speaker remarked that he could i only be concerned with the point of whether the question complied with the 1 rules of the House, and he did give the r matter serious consideration before he T passed the notice of the question. y “Putting a question on the second to ’ last day of the session is not playing the game.” commented Mr Holland. Mr Poison (Stratford) suggested that the report might be inaccurate, and it was desirable to give Mr Doidge an opportunity of stating whether is was cor- | rect, and he would appeal to the Prime Minister’s sense of fair play. The Prime Minister replied that if possible he would try to meet the wishes of the House. If the member ; for Tauranga felt that he should have j an opportunity of expressing his opinion. an occasion might be found. Mr Forbes: Possibly a personal explanation. The Prime Minister: Or a discussion. I did propose in the secret session to raise the question of whether the remarks of the Member for Tauranga were correctly reported. Mr Poison: Raise it here, or it cannot be replied to. The Prime Minister replied that he did not r 'opose to limit Mr Doidge, who would get the opportunity to deal with it in open session. Mr Doidge, who had entered the House during the discussion, asked if he would have an opportunity to reply to Mr Meachen? “There was an assurance from the Leader of the House,” remarked Mr J Speaker.