PARLIAMENT OPENED.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 85, 26 June 1930, Page 5

PARLIAMENT OPENED.

Hon, Gentlemen oi' tiie legislative Council and Gentlemen oi the House oi .Representatives:

"The past year has been happily marked by the restoration to health of His Majesty the King, whose recovery from his seriou|s illness has giyen his subjects throughout the Empire the deepest gratification. I desire to express my pleasure in meeting you hi Parliament assembled for the first time since my

assuming of the oiflc e of GovernorGeneral of New Zealand, and to assure you not only of the deep interest with which I shall follow

your but also of my desire to co-operate with , you in every way possible in your effortjs to ad. $ ice the prosperity of this Dominion and the welfare, contentment and happiness of its people. SIR JOSEPH WARD. Three months ago on May 22, the 'Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, on account of ill health, tendered to me his resignation as Prime Minister, and also th e resignations of hi s ministerial On his advice I entrusted the Hon. George WilJiam Forbes with the formation' of a ministry. Mr Forbes was appointed Prime Minister on May 28. TRIBUTE TO SIR JOSEPH. It is fitting that I should take this opportunity to express a warm tribute to the distinguished services rendered to New Zealand and the Empire by Sir Joseph Ward. For over forty years he has devoted himjself' to the public life of the Dominion, serving as a member of the House of Representatives, as a minister of the Crown, and for seven years as Prime Minister. I feel sure I am expressing your own sentiments as well as mine in the cordial hope that Sir Joseph Ward will be speedily restored to good health. DISARMAMENT.

At the recent naval disarmament conference in Loudon the Dominion was represented by its High Commissioner, aud the resulting treaty was duly signed cu its behalf in common With the United Kingdom aud the other Dominions, a copy of the treaty will be St d before you ia due course for your consideration.

TilE JUJIWAIIS.

My Government support wholeheartedly the cause of international peaee a»ud disarmament, and

will take any t>ieps in their pow-

er to further this movement so far as it jjs consistent with the necessities of national defence.

Tins year for the fust time arrangements have for the representation of .New Zealand, at the International Labour Conference under the auspices of the League of Nations.. IMPERIAL CONFERENCE. The earnest consideration of my Ministers is being directed towards the forthcoming Imperial Conference which will be opened in London at the end of September and at which it is hoped that tho Prime Minister will be able to represent New Zealand.

MOTOR TKMSPOKT.

Unless negotiations can be initiated at an earlier date, it will also bo nowessarv for mv Prime Minister white in London to outer into '•> ■'■

with the Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, with a view to tariff adjustments tfetwoen the two dominions.

TO-DAY'S CEREMONY. SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. (Special to "Post".) WELLINGTON, This Day. Parliament was formally opened to-day with" the usual ceremony by His Excellency the Governor-General. His Excellency's speech was as follows:

In Western Samoa a conference? between the Administrator and chosen representatives of the Samoans lias recently taken place and the position appears to have greatly improved. My Ministers desire to reaffirm their willingness to consider any legitimate grievances that may be represented! by the Sainoans but will continue to insist upon the observance of law and order in the terri-j tory ■jf-. FINANCE. It is pleasing to note that the steps taken by my Ministers during last financial year were successful in rectifying the position of the public finances enabling the year to be. closed with a surplus of approximately £150,000. Tn order to provide additional capital for carrying on the programme of public works notably railway construction and improvement and the development of hydro elective power a further loan of £'5,000,000 Was successfully floated in London m May. The issue price was £99 per cent, bearing interest at £5 per cent. The price is deemed very satisfactory in view of the general conditions of) the money market and the fact that the loan was largely oversubscribed is striking evidence of the confidence that investors have in this Dominion, and the management of its finances. Arrangements have also b«n made to provide out of local resources additional capital for land settlement, State Advances, forestry and other activities being carried on by my Ministers with the object of assisting the development of the country. So far as the national finances are) concerned my Ministers anticipate during the current year a substantial decline in customs revenue and also a falling off in the yield from laud and income tax.

Recognising that the present is notopportune for placing ad~dJtional burdens upon the taxpayers my Ministers propose to meet the position as far as possible by a drastic curtailment of expenditure

This means suspending or severely restricting -services and monetary assistance given by the State whereever such action is feasible without upsetting the basic organisation of th© department of State, or causing undue hardships to the institutions or sections of the community clirectly benefiting by particular items of expenditure.

'it is a matter for regret tnai

at a time iike the present the difficulties of, th e situation should be greatly accentuated by,the tact that the railways, owing to the losseb incurred, have how reached the end ol thei r separate financial resources, and cannot lonpr meet

their obligations wuthout/ &uuolautial assistance, which in this instance can only ue derived from taxation. In order that uie additional burden to b e borne by the taxpayer may be reduced to an ausolute minimum a royal commission has l)e«n set up to investigate tuliy all branches Of the Kail way Department's activities and to advise the Gov-

eminent where economies can be ahected. ( ( t ,;..„..

Being fully aware that the basic cause of the losses incurred by the railways is the rapid development oi' motor transport and lack of coordination 4n transport generally, My Ministers will place before you Legislative proposals which it is confidently expected will minimizethe wasteful competition wfliieli

now greatly incerajses the burdens of the people.

While it is probable that the present financial difficulties cannot

be overcome without [some increases in taxation, tll e Government are confident that given the support and co-opration of the public the position can be met and the budget for the year balanced without economic strain or imposing undue hardships on any section of the community.

rSEMPLOYvUENT

It is a. sad fact that unemploy-

ment is still a serious problem in this Dominion my Governmeut realising tlie hardship imposed upon the unfortunate members of the

community who are unable to obtain work will continue their endeavours to provide as much employment a|s possible on public works and other State activities. To assist i»a dealing with the special difficulties of married men'

who are unable to leave the cities

because of their domestic ties my Government has decided to pay subsidies on labour costjs at double the former rate to urban and suburban local authorities which under-

take additional approved works. In due course the proposals of the Government for improving the linaDcial position of these funds will be

submitted for your consideration

LAND SETTLEMENT. My ministers recognising that closer settlement of the land will tend to the better absorption of the DoininitAi'js surplus labour and promote the prosperous development of the country generally t have given close attention tol this important

matter during the recess, and it is pleasing to record that substantial progress bus been made.

Not only have many estates been purchased, subdivided aud dijsposed of, but also a large number of |sections of. unimproved Crown land have baen' made available and selected under the provisions of the Land Laws Amendment Act of last Isession, which authorised my Government to grant financial assist-

ance to the selectors. Progress has also been made in the work of developing suitable blocks of Crown land prior to their selection.

My advisers propose to pursue actively this method of increasing

the Dominion's productive area. I»a the, opinion of my Ministers this phase of settlement can be greatly expanded, and during the scission proposals will be submitted for your consideration . extending the facilities under which such area s can be selected. THOSE TO AUSTEIAIIA. In conformity with the policy of my Government to afford the public of the Dominion all the advantages made possible by modern scientific developments, arrangements are in train for the early establishment of a radio telephone service between New Zealand and Australia. When this service is definitely established it is proposed 1 to use it in conjunction with that existing between Sydney aud London as a means of furnishing a further channel of rapid communication with Great Britain and other European countries.

No doubt as tim e goes on the link between New Zealand and Australia will be only one in a chain which will render speech possible between the Mother Country and all the outposts of the, Empire. DEFENCE. My Ministers while keenly sensible of the importance of maintaining an adequate sytetem of 'national defence have been engaged owing to the exigencies oi the public finances of Hie Dominion in a careful con-

sideration of th e expenidture involved, particularly in connection with the land forces. A curtailment of the rate of expenditure on this arm of derence has been rendered imperatively necessary, and you will

therefore be asked to concur in certain modifications of the present system. EDUCATION POLICY. It will be. remembered that last year it was foreshadowed that a select committee would be set up and evidence taken from different .sources with a view of ascertaining the best method of giving effect to an educational policy adopted to the needs of the Dominion.

The committee was duly appointed Mid its report will be presented early in the session as required by the order of reference, when my advisers expect that the information obtained will bo <«f great value in framing the desired policy. ARAPUNI. My ministers regret that recent ealrth movements havfa threatened the stability of the hydro-electric works at Arapuui and it lias been found necessary, to empty the resevoir thereby involving the temporary closing of thq powerhouse.

Very careful investigations into the causes are being made, with the best geological advice available in Hie Dominion. Having regard to the importance of the matter the Government have under consideration the engagement of outside expert agisistance to furnish a full report upon the position with a view to adopting remedical measures. Every effort will he made to restore the supply of electricity at the lealiest possible moment.

UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE The difficult task of endeavouring to solve the problems associated with unemployment has been engaging the close and earnest consideration of my advisers the recommendations contained in the second section of the report of the unemployment committee appointed in October 1928 have been carefully studied.

Proposals which it is confidently hoped will result in considerably relieving, if not -,-,,,,:;'. u , . the hardships' arising from unemployment will be brought down at an early date.

Having regard to the present difficult economic and the prevalency of unemployment in the Dominion my Ministers are of the opinio* that the restriction now in force in connection with assisted immigration must be continued. WOliltEltS' COMPENSATION. During the recess a commission was set up for the purpose of inquiring into and reporting upon the statutes relating to compensation for accidents to workers and as a result my Ministers will submit to Parliament proposals for extending the scope of existing legislation thereby providing improved conditions for those workers who suffer injury in the course of their employment.

A special committee has been investigating the provision of the Shops and Offices Act and it is' anticipated that its recommendations will aim at removing certain anomalies and also effecting general improvements in this branch of the law.

INCAPICATED SOLDIERS. A Commission was also set up during the recess to 1 inquire into the position of physically incapaciated soldiers'. "■

This commission lias reported to me and its recommendations have been referred to my Ministers for their careful consideration. Proposals will be submitted by my advisers to promote the welfare of disabled soldiers. COMPANY LAW. The present law relating to companies has long been out of date and my Ministers hope that it will be possible to introduce during the session a consolidating and amending measur* based on the Imperial Companies Act 1929 with such adoptions and modifications as may be considered necessary to suit local conditions.

To facilitate the" preparations of such a measure the Government has recently appointed a special advisory committee containing representatives of the professions of law and accountany as well as of general commercial interests.

Consolidating and amending bills will be submitted] for your consideration dealing with municipal corporations, land drainage, and river boards and with the slaughtering and inspection of stock intended-for human consumption.

Bill s will also be introduced to amend the existing laws relating to the judicature, coroners, apprentices, births and deaths registration, public works, native lands, olfendters probation and Borstal Institutions. While sharing our zeal*to enhance the prosperity of the Dominion I earnestly pr V that the discharge of your responsible duties may be guTded by Divine Providence and may promote the wellbeing of New Zealand and its people.