DEMANDS OF LABOUR STATED BY MEMBER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19035, 2 April 1930, Page 9

DEMANDS OF LABOUR STATED BY MEMBER.

MR P. FRASER DISCUSSES POLITICAL SITUATION.

(Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, April 2. The conditions on which the Labour Party will keep the Government in office were stated by Mr P. Fraser, M.P., in a political address last night.

Mr Fraser said that the political situation to-day was most uncertain and anything might happen when Parliament met next session. Whether the Reform Party would support a noconfidence motion moved by Mr Holland -was a matter of conjecture. Denying that Mr Holland and Mr Savage had spoken with two different voices with regard to the attitude of Labour towards the Government, and criticising the Government for not having given effect to its election programme, Mr Fraser said: “ Parliament will meet next June, ana if the Government will say quite definitely it is prepared to deal with some of the important and pressing social evils of the day, and bring down effective remedies for those problems; if it agrees that relief conditions which break down awards and industrial agreements will be abolished on public works; if it promises that a much needed and long overdue Workers’ Compensation Act be brought down; if it will agree that the Companies Act and the Family Allowances Act should be improved and strengthened and made more beneficial to the people, and, fin ally, if it agrees to abolish compulsory military training, as it has indicated ir intends to do, then I for one would say it would be quite a sensible policy on the part of the Labour Party to keep the Government in office, so that it could give effect to those undertakings.”

Mr Fraser said that the Labour Party might have to consider in the course of the session whether it was worth while keeping the Government in office any longer. If Labour moved a vote of noconfidence and Reform members and a sufficient number of Independents supported it, it was quite possible that Labour would be sent for to form a Government. Mr Fraser gave an assurance that Labour would not hesitaie for a moment in such an event. At the same time, if the Government was prepared to bring down substantial legislation to relieve the masses of the people the Labour Party would consider giving it the same measure of support during the coming session, as it had done last session.