THE FIRST DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10846, 11 March 1921, Page 6

THE FIRST DAY

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE. TURNED UPON BY PREMIER. When would the report of the Commission appointed to fix the boundaries of the Greymouth Harbour Board rating area he published, was .a question without notioe asked in the House of Representatives yesterday by Mr T. E. Y. Seddon ( Westland). There was, he added, a great deal of anxiety in regard to the matter. The Prime Minister asked the hon. member to put Hub question on the Order Paper. It was not usual, he stated, for Ministers to answer questions on the day that Parliament opened, especially if no notice had been given them. ■ WAR PENSIONS APPEAL BOARD. Mr A. Harris (Waitemata) asked the Minister for Defence without notice when he proposed to set up the War Pensions Appeal Board' provided for by legislation last session. ' Sir Heaton Rhodes replied that the most suitable officer to take_ the chairmanship of the board is now in England. There would be no delay in setting up the board when, he arrives in the Dominion. f WHEN ANSWERS WILL BE GIVEN. Mr J A. Nash (Palmerston North) said, that he wished to ask the Prime Minister a question without notice. Mr Massey, amid laughter, said that he must ask the hon. gentleman to put the question on the Order Paper. Mr H. Vernon Reed (Bay of Islands) said that he wished to ask a question which he hoped the Prime Minister would not ask him -to put on the Order Paper. (Laughter.) The question w*g,whether during this short session an-, swers would be given to these questions now being placed on the Order Paper. (Laughter.) Mr Massey: My answer is that answers are always given to questions. (Laughter.) Even if it is not possible to print the answers, during the session they are circulated'afterwards. (Laughter.) HOUSE RENT RESTRICTION. Mr P. Eraser (WeHincrton Central) asked, without notioe,, the Hon. G. J. Anderson (Minister for Labour), whether he proposed to re-enact the rent restriction clauses of the Act of 1916, and the amendments in the Housing Act in 1919. These clangs, he stated expired on August- 31st this year, and Parliament would not be sitting then. Mr Anderson: I must ask the' hon. member to put the question on the Order Paper. (Laughter.) QUALITY OF GAS. Mr W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) asked if the Minister for Trade and Commerce would- take immediate steps to protect the consumers of gas in this country by fixing a standard quality for gas. The Hon. IT. P. Lee asked that the question ibe put on the Order Paper. (Laughter.) THE TRIP HOME. Mr H. fe. Holland (Buller) said that he also had a question which he hoped the Prime Minister would not ask him to put on the Order Paper. (Laughter.) The question was. whether the Prime Minister proposed to put a specific motion to the House in regard to the invitation he had received to attend the Imperial Conference, or did he intend to leave the matter to be dealt with entirely on the Addressdn-Reply. • Mr Massey: I will be pleased to answer the question on the Address-in-Reply. BY WHOSE ORDERS? “Will the Prime Minister say by whose orders the chief of the staff was present at my meeting the other evening," asked Mr Holland, without notice, in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon; ‘'and whether it is proposed 6till to use the ‘Hansard'’ staff for police purposes?" Mr .Massey asked that the question be pjit on the Order Paper.