BUDGET SPEECH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22489, 5 August 1936, Page 12

BUDGET SPEECH

INTENSE INTEREST SCENE IN THE HOUSE GALLERIES CROWDED FEW INTERJECTIONS [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Tuesday The galleries in the House of Representatives were crowded long before 7.30 this evening when the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, rose to deliver the Dominion's first Labour Budget. It was perhaps the most important single occasion, in a Parliamentary sense, since the Government has taken office, inasmuch as the financial statement, according to expectations, revealed Labour's financial plans for the future in contrast to Labour's operations during the last few months within the framework of finance provided by the last Government. Queues Formed Early Queues started to form in the corridors approaching the public galleries in the House-shortly after six o'clock and by the time the Speaker, the Hon. \V. E. Barnard, took his chair at 7.30 the only vacant seats were a few in the front row of the ladies' gallery reserved for the wives of members of Parliament, and seats in the Legislative Council gallery; The seats in the ladies' gallery were subsequently all occupied, and in practically all the galleries interested listeners were grouped round the doors. p;iaborate arrangements had been xnaue to guard against the possibility of a breakdown in Mr. Nash's voice, which has been giving him trouble for several days. Microphones and Amplifiers Two microphones were suspended above his desk, one to broadcast his speech over" the national radio service and other for purposes of amplification in the House itself. Two large amplifiers were placed on either side of • the Chamber, so that Mr. Nash would be able to speak without undue strain. After the formality of declaring the House in Committee of Supply to reeeive the financial statement, and Mr. Speaker's consequent departure from the chair, Mr. Nash immediately set to work on the formidable task which confronted him. To read a document of 20 large printed pages after receiving medical treatment for several days for throat weakness was no light task. The Minister spoke less rapidly and in a lower tone than usual, but his words were perfectly audihje. He even broke away from established tradition on occasions by interpolating remarks of his own with a bearing on some particular point in the statement. Members' Congratulations The reading of the Budget occupied an hour and 35 minutes, and then, with the House no longer in Committee of Supply, Mr. Nash attended to the formalities of tabling the statement, the estimates and other papers. , Before the adjournment was taken at 9.10 p.m. the Budget had been delivered, with practically a complete absence of interjections. Immediately after the House adjourned Ministers and other Government members gathered round Mr. Nash's desk to offer their congratulations. The first Opposition member to cross the floor of the House and shake Mr. Nash's hand was the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, his immediate predecessor in office as Minister of Finance. ' The debate on the financial statement will be opened in the House on Thursday night, when the first two speeches will be broadcast.