MR ALGIE’S FOUR CONCLUSIONS

Southland Times, Issue 25350, 29 April 1944, Page 6

MR ALGIE’S FOUR CONCLUSIONS

First Experience Of Parliament TASK OF OPPOSITION Four conclusions he had reached after his first session in Parliament were given by Mr R. M. Algie, M.P. for Remuera, in an address to the Auckland Creditmen’s Club. He said he had concluded that it was the task of the Opposition outside the House to educate the people to an intelligent interest in politics, that the broadcasting of Parliament should be limited, that the present Government was contemptuous of public opinion, and that it would rely on its “four compulsions” in post-war planning. “I have listened over and over again to appeals by the Government for cooperation, and I have come .to the regrettable conclusion that for them the word means the same thing, as that other English word compulsion,” Mr Algie said.. “If we are prepared to take what- is put before us in its entirety, we are great fellows and co-operative; but if we so much as criticize, propose, suggest, or even construct, we run the risk of being-classified as saboteurs and stibversionists. As an' example, I quote you the case of an important Bill which came to us at the eleventh hour of the session after we had wasted time for six weeks. We came to the conclusion as the debate progressed that there was no sense in our putting up any suggestions, since the closure would be used to force the measure through.” Mr Algie added that he had learned with sorrow that the present Government was not prepared to compromise, as co-operation demanded; it wanted nothing but submission. The biggest work the Opposition could do was to get out among the electors and educate them, and tell them what was being done. BROADCASTING OF PARLIAMENT Dealing with the broadcasting of Parliament, Mr Algie said he had decided that it resulted in members talking to their, electorate, not to one another as they were sent to Wellington to do. A better plan would be for each side to choose two speakers, who would present their case, and the House would then go off the air, letting members deal with one another. He asked what would be the position of the directors of the largest business in the country if they had to discuss all their business before the shareholders. They would trim their sails, he said, and so did members of Parliament. “I have reluctantly come to the opinion that the present Government does not care two hoots for public opinion, except on the eve of elections,” Mr Algie continued. He instanced the Invercargill Licensing Bill. The people of Invercargill had voted for restoration. Instead they were given trust control, which meant a body, three of whose members were appointed by the Government, three by local bodies with Government approval, and a chairman chosen by the Government. That was really State ownership. Similarly the Local Bodies Elections Bill was brought forward against the I whole weight of evidence given before I the Government committee, and a man had been, appointed to an overseas post whose apparent recommendation was I that he had been rejected by the people I of his electorate after one term as their representative. FOUR COMPULSIONS Finally, it was apparent that if the present Government was entrusted with the task of post-war planning, it would work on the foundations laid in the period 1936-39. Those were four compulsions—compulsory unionism to give the Government increased numerical and financial strength; compulsory marketing to reduce the political independence of the rural communities, a work which would be completed by the abolition of the country quota; compulsory licensing of industry; and compulsory regulation of overseas trade and finance. Regulation of overseas trade was the principal rfiethod adopted by every dictator country to maintan policy, Mr Algie said, and the objective of the Labour Government was the retention of political power. One could not construct a worthwhile and noble life on the gospel of fear and compulsion, and he believed, with Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt, in a steady relaxation of present controls in order that we might become the inheritors of that freedom for which the war was being fought.