DEBATE FIASCO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22499, 17 August 1936, Page 8

DEBATE FIASCO

BUDGET DISCUSSION OPPOSITION'S ERROR QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP HUMOURED MOVE IN PARTY [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Sunday The present session of Parliament, momentous already bv virtue of the wealth of experimental legislation introduced by New Zealand's first Labour Government', is now notable for another reason. Following on the presentation of a Budget so replete with talking points that it was expected to occupy the attention of the House of Representatives lor at least three weeks, there has been one of the shortest financial debates on record, and the sudden collapse of the debate last Wednesday still forms the major topic of discussion in Parl iainen tary circles. The position in many respects was remarkable. Unprecedented interest, was aroused in the Budget and within a few hours of its presentation controversy was l'aging throughout the country over the rates fixed for the guaranteed price for dairy products and the land and income tax proposals. The early speeches in the financial debate in the House mirrored to a large extent the divergent views on these points, and the development of interesting political argument was expected. Political Negligence

Then, almost before the tempo of the debate had been established, the Opposition was guilty of the gravest political negligence, and the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, found himself in the ideal political position of being able to reply to the debate before criticism in the House had been fully developed. Although the incident may be only of minor importance in the general scheme of things political, it is regarded seriously by members of Parliament, and not only by those on the Opposition benches. It is no secret that several Government members have viewed the collapse of the debate with something approaching dismay. Just as many speeches had been prepared in defence of the Government's policy as there had been in criticism of it. Lack ol Organisation However, Opposition members, in virtually applying the closure on themselves, have focussed attention on their own lack of organisation. It was stated officially that the debate collapsed because of a misunderstanding, members of the Opposition having believed that two Government members would speak in succession, but even a misunderstanding is an insufficient excuse for failure to keep alive an important debate which was still really in its incipient stages. There were Opposition members in the House and the Speaker, the Hon. W. E. Barnard, gave ample time for one of them to rise before he called on the Minister to reply. One man had only to hold the floor for under an hour and the debate would have proceeded on its normal course. The whole position brings to the fore the question of Opposition leadership. Although the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes is held in high personal regard, it is generally admitted that he is not a successful leader. The state of the present Opposition is almost exactly the same as that of the last Government, with Mr. Forbes as the nominal leader and the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates as by far the most commanding personality. Move for New Leader It is understood that there is a movement on foot in the National Party to obtain a new Parliamentary leader, and that the party officials wish to go past Mr. Forbes and Mr. Coates and choose a man from the rank and file members of the party. So far this session there has not been one such man to give proof of the qualifications necessary for political leadership. The logical Leader of the Opposition is Mr. Coates, who possesses probably the greatest political stature in the House. At the moment Mr. Coates is only a private member, but his ability and capacity for work are proved by the manner in which he has led the attack right from the start of the session on practically all important matters. As far as the Opposition is concerned, resolute leadership inside the House is vital. At present Mr.. Coates is a leader in everything but name and authority, and if a younger member of the party is chosen to replace Mr. Foibes that unsatisfactory position would probably still obtain. Piquant Situation Apart from the comparative fiasco of the Budget debate, the most important feature of the week's work in Parliament was unquestionably the introduction on Friday of the Agricultural Workers Bill, the chief provision of which is the laying down of minimum rates of pay for workers engaged on dairy farms. A somewhat piquant situation has arisen owing to the fact that Mr. W. J. Poison (Opposition—Stratford) was a signatory to the agreement on which the new scale of wages is based, having taken part in the negotiations with the Government as president of the Farmers' Union at the time. Naturally Mr. Poison has to defend the bill while his Opposition colleagues have already shown a disposition to criticise it severely in several important directions. Reasonably good progress has been made with the Estimates on three sitting days, and 13 classes involving aggregate vote« of £1,785,896 have been passed. Most of the more important votes have still to receive consideration, and their passage through tho House may not be quite so speedy. Adjustment ol Mortgages

Interest now centres very largely on future legislation and the item which is probably being awaited most eagerly is the bill for the adjustment of all mortgages 011 the basis of the guaranteed price for dairy products. This measure, which is scheduled for introduction during the coining week, may well prove to be one of the most controversial of the session. This is indicated by the fact that a discussion of its principles occupied a caucus of the Government party for three days. It is stated that the bill already contains well over 100 clauses, and its very bulk can be taken as some indication of the complexity of the problem with which the Government proposes to .deal. The Pensions Bill and the various taxing measures are likely to be brought down in the near future, and the State Highways Bill prepared by the Minister of Public Works, the Hou. It. Semple, is underbtood to be reudy for early introduction.