SELECTION OF MINISTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21446, 22 September 1931, Page 8

SELECTION OF MINISTRY

TASK NOW COMPLETED ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIOS OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO-DAY (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, September 21. Although Mr Coates has chosen his men for inclusion in the Coalition Cabinet and placed the names in the hands of Mr Forbes it has been arranged that no announcement shall be made until to-morrow morning. This will bo followed in the evening by an announceraent of the allocation of the portfolios. It is regarded as certain that Mr Coates, Mr Downie Stewart and Mr Jones, ns the three leading men in the Reform Party, will occupy seats, and that Mr Hamilton is also a Cabinet certainty. The remaining man will, it is believed, be chosen from Mr Wright, Mr Campbell and Mr Young. The choice of Mr Hamilton was made with two considerations in view. His knowledge of the current problems of the producer and his long experience in farmers’ finance have qualified him for an administrative position, and geographical considerations were also a factor, giving Southland one Minister in the new team. His appointment rules out Mr Waite. Mr Ansell, too, has been definitely counted out, but Mr Wright is considered to possess a strong claim to a seat, for which the competitors are Mr Campbell, hitherto never considered as a Cabinet candidate, and Mr Young, who occupied a prominent position in Mr Coates’s last Ministry. Any of these three men would satisfy the demand of the north for representation, although it would still leave the distribution at six to four in favour of the north. The new Ministry will be sworn in tomorrow afternoon. When the House meets in the evening Mr Forbes will announce the distribution of the portfolios and the House will adjourn for a week or more. The length of the adjournment has not been announced, but it is assumed that the new Cabinet will take as much time as possible to formulate and table its policy proposals, provided that the House is brought together again in time for the passage of the Imprest Bill, which usually goes through at the end of the month. If sufficient money is in hand it might be possible to carry on over the end of the month, allowing a longer adjournment of the House. Major readjustments will be made around the building as soon as the new Government takes over, and the secretarial corps, which now numbers 16, will assuredly be reduced. The four Whips in the House—Messrs Nash and Bitchener (Reform) and Messrs Healy and Munns (United)—will be retained.