MR DOIDGE’S SPEECH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 7 December 1940, Page 2

MR DOIDGE’S SPEECH

NEW ZEALAND’S WAR EFFORT PRIME MINISTER’S APPEAL TO ; P MBERS [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter] WELLINGTON. This Day. An appeal was made by the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) in the House of . Representatives yesterday afternoon to , members wishing to criticise or make suggestions regarding the Dominion’s war effort to do so in secret session or to the Ministers concerned and not to ! spread statements publicly that would 1 1 cause dismay on the subject of the war J 1 effort, which was creditable and was ! recognised as such by other countries. : The Prime Minister’s statement arose ’ j from the question by Mr E. P. Meachen I <Government. Marlborough) placed on j the Order Paper for Thursday after- ' noon concerning some reported remarks of the National Member for Tauranga j (Mr Doidge). The propriety of the i question was raised by members of the '! Opposition, and Mr Doidge was given the assurance that he would be given ■ the opportunity of discussing the matj ter. j Mr Meachen explained yesterday afternoon that he had considered it his plain duty to bring the reported remarks of Mr Doidge before the House, and, after consulting Mr Speaker, he was left with no other alternative than to have the question included on the Order Paper for Thursday. He wanted to be fair and wanted the member for Tauranga to be able to explain his object in making the statement that had been reported. Mr Meachen said he had taken every possible step in a fair way to bring his question before the House. In his opinion the statement was not helpful to the war effort. Mr Doidge said that the impression had been created that he had done something which constituted a grave danger to New Zealand’s war effort. Mr Meachen must have known that in putting the question on the Order Paper in the dying hours of the session he j (Mr Doidge) would have no opportunity of answering it. He suggested that i had Mr Meachen been actuated by a | desire to be fair to him he would at least have been shown a copy of the ! question to him instead of allowing the * question to burst upon him in the House as a bombshell. What Mr Meachen had done was to quote only a portion of what he had said. Mr Meachen had detached a sentence or two from the full content of his speech. His main statement had been devoted to the contention that it was impossible to make a full war effort with a 40-hour week. The only statement he had made in criticism of the Government or which could be so construed as such was the statement that we lacked inspirational leadership, and the result was deadly complacency among many of our people. They had heard the Prime Minister himself declare that only a bombshell on the breakfast table would awaken some people in this country to war consciousness.. The Prime Minister: When was that remark said? Mr Doidge repeated that he had heard the Prime Minister say it. and when the Prime Minister pressed him to state when. Mr Doidge stated that it was said in much fuller terms in the House the night before. The Prime Minister said that the House had been in secret session, and maintained that Mr Doidge had committed an infringement of a sacred trust. Mr Speaker upheld the point of order raised by the Prime Minister. Mr Doidge said that no member had done more than himself to urge that New Zealand should contribute a maximum war effort to the Empire cause. Mr Fraser then made his appeal to members not to make statements which might occasion uneasiness about the Dominion’s war effort, pointing out j that any criticism or suggestions they j wished to offer could be made in secret. I sessions of the House or to members of the War Cabinet or responsible Minis- | ters. There must be an individual j sense of responsibility on the part of every member of the House. All the Government asked for was co-operation and friendship, and first of all the offering of any criticism in a friendly way so that the best result could be achieved.