SESSION ENDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 7 December 1940, Page 6

SESSION ENDS

VALEDICTORY REFERENCES MOTION CONFIRMING SUPPORT FOR GREAT BRITAIN [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter] WELLINGTON, This Day. After extending over a period of nore than six months, the 1940 session 3 arliament closed at 6.25 o'clock last evening, after the Royal assent had >een granted the final legislation. The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) said hat it was proposed to call Parliament ogether again for the next session fither towards the end of February or ?arly in March, though if a national jmergency required it in the meantime Parliament would be summoned imnediately. The usual valedictory reference* vere made by the Prime Minister and he Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holand) before the House rose. Mr Fraser paid his tribute to those vho had helped in the deliberations of i very difficult session. It had been a ong and broken session. With the varous adjournments they had to pick up ;he threads again when they resumed, *nd altogether it was of a desultory lature. “We met in the shadow of the var clouds, “he continued, "sometime* n moments of great anxiety and all the time in a period of danger to the Commonwealth of which we are part, rhe burden on Parliament generally las been heavier than in a normal session.” Mr Fraser expressed the thanks of the Government to the Speaker (Mr Barnard), who had had a difficult session and who had upheld with dignity and impartiality the office of the chair; the Chairman of Committees (Mr McKeen) who had carried out his duties with efficiency and with his usual good nature; the Clerk of the House (Mr T. D. H. Hall), whom all members regarded as a trusted friend and valued adviser; to the law drafting officers; to the Chief Parliamentary Librarian (Dr G. H. Scholfield) and the staff of the library; to the manager (Mr R. Nixon) and staff of Bellamy’s: to the acting Sergeant-at-Arms (Mr Taylor); to the messengers of the House: to the cleaners: to Hansard and to members of the Press Gallery; and to the officers of the broadcasting unit. Mr Fraser concluded by moving the following motion in the name cf every member of the House and the people of New Zealand: “That a message be sent to the Government of Great Britain assuring it of our unswerving support to the cause which the British Commonwealth has espoused and of our solidarity with all the people of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth.” The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holland) said that there was always a note of sadness about the end of a session because members were a very happy family although they differed politically. He endorsed the Prime Minister's remarks regarding the staff of Parliament and concluded by wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Mr McKeen thanked the Prime Ministed and Mr Holland for their remarks regarding his chairmanship and thanked members for their helpfulness. The session had been one of shred* and patches, the Speaker said, and had been a difficult one in more ways than one. The special circumstances in which they were living with a war raging overseas had an effect on them all but members had come through the session with credit to themselves and the country. Wishing members a cheerful Christmas. Mr Barnard said that as the Christmas season approached their thought would be with the “boys” serving overseas and the people in Britain who were going through ordeals and trials. “Let us hope that the New Year will be a better one,” he concluded. When the motion to adjourn was put members gave the customary “No” but as the hour was late the usual division was not forced and members dispersed after singing the National Anthem.