DOING THE RIGHT THING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 16 October 1941, Page 6

DOING THE RIGHT THING

I MR HOLLAND EXPRESSES VIEW OF OPPOSITION “Believing deep down in our hearts _ that we are doing the r ; ght thing members of the Opposition concur in the 1 passing of the legislation and lcel th?y will earn the approval of the " people for being able to rise above 1 party interests and place the interests p jf the nation above all considerations.” Iu these words the Leader of the Op--1 position iMr Holland) summed up the v favourable attitude of his side of the - House in his speech. lie reiterated the 1 pledge given in a letter to the Prime “ Minister (Mr Fraser) that the Opposition would not oppose the measure, - anc, if a division was called, would f vote in favour of it. 3 The decision to extend the life of Parliament was solely caused by the ■ present war situation, said Mr Holland. 1 H e wanted to thank the Prime Minister 3 for what he had said about his part in 1 the negotiations of the past ter. days and to say to the House and public [ tha Mr Fraser had made available to ? him, so that he could come to a proper • judgment, information of a highly cont fidential nature. “I mentioned that because I think ? the general public should know that I 1 there are reasons that cause public l 1 men to come to certain decisions and ’ the reasons cannot always be explained i f to the public. But the confidence the] people have in their public men will I be sufficient to satisfy them that the • only thing that matters at this time is what is best for New Zealand and the i Fnipire.” 5 “Since the outbreak of war the Opposition has consistently advocated that > for the Empire, to succeed in the titanic struggle, will require the mobil- “ isation of the whole of our resources, j • The mobilisation of manpower should j ‘ be accompanied by the mobilisation 1 ■ of our civil, industrial and financial i resources, and our political resources ! too.” N O N - PA RT Y GOV E R N M E NT Mr Holland added that since the out-; break of war the Opposition had ad-1 vocated the formation of a non-party! government, believing that the maxi- 1 mum contribution was only possible by! I uniting the political forces of the Dominion. He and his colleagues! j shared the view that no one party j could do all ol the things that were I j necessary for a maximum war effort.! He agreed that to throw the people into the turmoil of a general election; was simply unthinkable, and it would | | be sinful for tiny public body of men : to be responsible for dividing the people when unity was a first essential; to successful participation in the struggle. The Opposition had advocated th postponement of elections for the j duration of the war on condition that a 1 non-party government should be form- 1 j ed. It was true that the Government! Jh the numbers to pass a Bill of that: nature, but, as the Prime Minister had j said, a measure of such a kind carried! much greater weight if some degree of j j unity could be reached. There was nothing more important in j [considering the question than the need ; for avoiding acrimony at such a time.! j However, he believed that what the! Opposition had been advocating would j i have to be done and that the Govern- ! rnent would need the assistance and* [cooperation of their political opponents. They could only express the i hope that that decision would be reachi ed on a later occasion. [ “This side of the House, in a spirit of true co-operation and earnest helpfuli ness, has undertaken not to oppose the | passage of the measure as an earnest 1 of our sincerity and desire to unite the I people,” declared Mr Holland. “I have (given to the Prime Minister a promise | that no opposition will arise from this

side of tin' House and in the unlikely \ event of a division being called every ' member on this side will voluntarily vote for the Bill." Following an interjection hy Mr J. | A. Lee i Democratic Labour. Grey Lynn) that the Opposition could refrain | from voting Mr Holland said that the Opposition would not shirk its responsibilities hut would vote for the Bill. "Wo hold the view that a postpone ! ment should be accompanied by the j formation of a National Government and also that seeing that the present j Government's mandate will expire on I Ist November then it has no mandate; period this Bill provides for. In the circumstances I do submit that con tentious legislation should be avoided m w tr time." said Mr Holland. Referring to the suggestion that he should join the War Cabinet the Leader of the Opposition explained that the offer of an additional seat in War Cabinet was always accompanied by a condition that there would be one of | the Government side in that cabinet as well, making the number seven instead of five. He could not see that the war J effort would be improved by merely ; increasing the size of that cabinet from | Mr Lee: Would not the cuckoo gradu. ally become bigger than the hedge i sparrow? Mr Holland: That a proper interjection. What have the cuckoo and hedge sparrow to do with the war? , During the afternoon, went on Mr Holland, he had told the Prime Minister that he was willing to undertake | any additional responsibility without j reward. The Opposition were as much I concerned as any other section of the I community concerning New Zealand s I share in the war effort, and would like j to play a more important part, feeling I that they could contribute something to j the war effort. But that was the Govi ernment’s decision, and he would like j to say that now was a time when the people of the country should stand behind the Government of the day. It was a time when public men should give inspiration to the people they represented, and when all the people should make the interests of the Em - pire supreme. Regardless of party and self-interest the Opposition would do their best as well as those on the Government side. Let them all act in such a way that their brave fighting men would approve of the action taken. Many people would be disappointed at the postponement of the elections, but it could not be helped. Their representatives in Parliament had weighed the pros and cons of the proposal, and. believing deep down in their hearts that they were doing the right thing the Opposition concurred in the passage of the legislation. IN I)EPE NI)E N T Vll \V The people of New Zealand would be greatly heartened by the speeches I they had just heard, Mr C. A. Wilkinson ilnch. Egmont) said. He believed that 90 per cent, of the people did not want an election, and he felt that good work had been done. Personally, he strongly supported the action that had been taken because he had always thought that the election should be postponed. He had always hoped that ja non-party Gov nment would be I formed, and if the dangers confronting the Empire became greater they might ho forced to reconsider the position and form a Government representative of all sections of the community. There was a grave possibility of trouble nearer home, and if that came there could be no question of an election or even the possibility of an election. As time went on the wisdom of that had been taken would become more apparent. DEMOC RATIC LABOUR I Without knowing the special circumI stances referred to by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr J. A. Lee (Democratic Labour, Grey Lynn), it would be true to say that the present was probably the gravest moment of the j war. The Prime Minister had struck ' the right note when he had said that if any substantial section of the commun- I ity demanded on election an election ] should be held. If the House were to \ dissolve one or the other of the major , parties was bound to be returned, and I if both of those parties said there ought j to be no contest no one could say that j the franchise of the people was being I fundamentally altered at the moment, j However, it should be understood that j if they were agreeing to a prolongation of Parliament they were not putting | democracy into cold storage. It was ) unlikely that the gravity would be lessened in a year’s time, because, al- j though the Allies would win, they ! were Fighting a mighty antagonist who ; would not let up until the moment of ; collapse. Replying to the debate, Mr Fraser thanked the speakers for their remarks and their support. It would be impossible for the Government to accept an I extension of the life of Parliament if hy doing so they surrendered the right to govern or the right to bring down ! legislation that they believed to be in j the interests of the country. At the same time it was only fair that the Op- ! position should be taken into their con- i fidence as much as possible. “I will not j wilt or hesitate because anyone says j that we have not got a mandate,” he j said in conclusion. “Our mandate is j from this House and the people.” The Bill was put through committee and passed.