Must Stay in Office During London Visit

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1043, 6 August 1930, Page 8

Must Stay in Office During London Visit

MR. FORBES’S CONDITION ARRANGEMENT WITH PARTIES THE SUX'S Parliamentary Krpcrtrr . WELLINGTON. Tuesday. “I shall only go to the Imperial Conference on the understanding that I remain Prime Minister while I am away and when I come said the Prime Minister, the Hon. i G. W. Forbes, in the House of Representatives today when reply. I ir.g to questions as to his atti- : tude on the representation of New Zealand at the Imperial Conference. He said that he hoped to give an outline of policy legislation in a day or so, and he would come to an arrangement with the leaders of the other parties as to the facilitation of business to enable him to get away. The Leader of the Opposition, tie Right Hon. J. G. Coates, asked the Prime Minister if he would indicate to the House when he deemed it necessary for the New Zealand representative to leave for the Imperial Conference. It was, he understood, the general wish that New Zealaad should be represented. In view of expediting the work of the Ho-se, would Mr. Forbes state what policy measure* he was bringing down, when he would bring them down, and in what order! Before Mr. Coates could commit his party to any arrangement, he would have to know the Government’s intentions. POLICY LEGISLATION The Prime Minister said he was not yet in a position to state e-raetly what policy legislation there was to come down, but he hoped to f. m either tomorrow or the day after. He hoped to have the debate on Imperial affairs this week, bat that depended on the length of the Financial Debate. Mr. Coates said it would facilitate business if Mr. Forbes would say what the Bills were, and when they would come down. It might be possible to curtail the length of the Budget debate. Regarding the Customs BilL the Prime Minister said that he could not finalise arrangements until the taHi»r

of evidence had been completed. There were a few interviews yet to be ta>ished. To the Leader of the Labour Party. Mr. H. E. Holland, Mr. Forbes laid it was his intention to consult the leaders of the two other parties regarding the legislation. He realised it would be a reflection on New Zealand not to be represented, but he would only go to the Imperial Conference on the understanding that he would remain prime Minister. Members chuckled quietly. Mr. Forbes said this could be done with the co-operation of the other parties. However, he did ‘not wish to take advantage of any arrangement that might be made, and he did not want to use the Imperial Conference as a lever to get. contentious legislation through. After the contentious measures had been dealt with, he thought there would be quite a lot of useful legislation the House could go on with after he left.