STANDARD OF DEBATE

Southland Times, Issue 24499, 29 July 1941, Page 2

STANDARD OF DEBATE

During the Budget debate on Tues- | day last the Labour member for Palmj erston North told the House and the country that the president of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union should be behind prison bars. During the adjournment the member was apparently told | off by his superiors, for afterwards he | apologized and congratulated the same i man on what he has done to help the Government in its war effort. The following night, Wednesday, at 7.30 o’clock I happened to be listening to the Budget debate. The first speaker was the Labour member for Wellington West. The next was the notable ex-Labour member- for Grey Lynn and the final one the Labour member for Onehunga. i I might say I was never so disgusted as I was at 10.30 p.m. that night. The trash that came over the air, especially during the last hour was, to say the least, not what one would expect, especially at times like the present. As far as I could see it was nothing but a case of washing dirty linen as a result of a by-election. Next day, when the “debate” was resumed, the Opposition pulled out, evidently in disgust. What a sinful waste of public money to keep I Parliament going if that is a sample of | what is being done. Tire members would be better to adjourn altogether, get out into the country and do something useful. I could give two of them a job digging out rabbits. I am quite prepared to admit this is not a time when one cares to be writing like this about our Government, but why can’t they cut out this sort of rot and get to business? We have the Japanese on the move in the Far East. Many of our men are in the Middle East with the prospect of having to face the whole weight of the German war machine while the majority of them are still carrying about the old single-shot rifle and bayonet that we used in the last war. Here we have an ever increasing army of conscientious objectors and thousands of willing men in the Home Guard carrying nothing but white arm bands. There should be no shortage of something useful to debate in Parliament, even if it is a few years late. If it’s a case of attending Parliament to pull one another to pieces when the nation is right up against the greatest warmachine ever known, then I say God help us. CASEY V.