CANBERRA EXPECTED TO BE CROWDED

Southland Times, Issue 25537, 4 December 1944, Page 5

CANBERRA EXPECTED TO BE CROWDED

Duke Of Gloucester’s Arrival (Rec. 7 p.m.) CANBERRA, December 3. Fears are being expressed that when the Duke of Gloucester opens the new session of the Federal Parliament next year Canberra will be crowded out. Before the Senate adjourned Senator J. W. Leckie (Opposition) Victoria, asked if reservations would be assured for members and their wives. The Leader of the Senate Opposition, Senator George McLeay: Only for one wife. The Minister of the Interior, Senator J. S. Collings, said that accommodation would be guaranteed for each member and “one wife.” All Canberra hotels and boarding houses had been told that they must not accept casuals except on the understanding that they must leave when the session opened. It was likely that a lot of people without any real business in the capital might attempt to stay in Canberra for the Duke’s visit, taking up accommodation required for those who had to attend. However, the Government was watching the position very closely. The Minister of Transport, Mr E. J. Ward, forecast an “orgy of spending and extravagance” after the arrival of the Duke of Gloucester. “There will be assembled here the greatest collection of snobs the country can provide or produce,” he said.