THE SESSION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 201, 28 August 1935, Page 8

THE SESSION

OPENING THURSDAY PARLIAMENT’S LAST LAP CONFLICTING POLICIES LYES ON THE BUDGET WELLINGTON, Aug. 27. The fifth session of the twenty fourth Parliament will be opened at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday by His Excellency the Governor-General (Viscount Galway). This will be the first time since his appointment that His Excellency has opened Parliament. Although Parliament Buildings have taken on the signs of activity usually associated with the opening of the session, very few members have arrived sc fat a number are expected tomorrow, and by Thursday there should be practically a full muster. It is generally expected that the session will last from eight to ten weeks. Parliament will enter upon the last lap of its existence on Thursday. Normally the General Election would have been held last December, but the Government decided to postoone the Genera’ Election for one year. When the present Parliament expire? towards the end of October sitting members will be required to go to their electorates and give an account of their steward ship during four of the most momentous years in the history ot Parliamentary Government in New Zealand. They will find the political atmos phere outside of Parliament complicated. In 1931 the Coalition Government went to the country on a blank cheque policy and it was returned with a comfortable majority in practically a straight-out fight with Labour. This year there aze indications that there will be a plethora of parties and candidates, with two major parties— Labour and Democrat —definitely opposed to the Government, which on this occasion is appealing to the electorate under the name of Nationalist. In addition, there wil] be Liberals, Reformers and a host of Independents contesting the right to sit in Parliament. A Talking Session The last session of a Parliament is usually devoted to much talk and very little work, and this year is likely to be no exception to the rule. Both Nationalist and. Labour members —as yet the Democrats have a representation of but two —will be anxious to make every post a winning post so far as the enunciation of party policies is concerned. Labour has already made public the main planks of its platform, and its supporters in the House, numbering twenty three, ar? bound to use the forms of the House to elaborate on guaranteed prices and other fea tures of the party’s programme. The Nationalists will be bound to retaliate, for up to the present they have had little opportunity of doing so in the country, and the chances are that the set debates, such as those on the Address in Reply and the Budget, will he largely devoted to party recriminations Piquancj will ba added to the situation by virtue of the fact that a hundred and one candidates outside the House will be on the hustings putting forward their pet arguments, and this is bound to make sitting members restive. Address in Reply Formalities will occupy members for the first twu days of the session, and the serious work will probably not commence until the Address-in-Reply debate is launched in the House on Tuesday of next week. On this occasion the motion is Icing moved by the Government member for Wairarapa (Hou. A. D. McLeod), who is not seeking re-election this year, and seconded by the Government member for Waikato (Mr. F. Lye). The opening speakers will be followed by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. M. J. Savage), who may be expected to take full advantage of the opportunity presented of stating the policy which Labour will advocate on the hustings. After Mr. Savage has spoken the way will be clear for the general expression of opinion on political subjects, and it is expected that the debate will laet the best part of two weeks. To the outsider the Addrcss-in-Reply debate may appear to be something of a waste of time, but the seasoned politician regards it as an excellent means of allowing members to “blow off steam. ’ Budget Proposals Main interest this session will centre on the Budget, which will be presented to the House by the Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates). In this will be disclosed the main items in the Government’s legislative programme. Election sessions are usually notable for displays of “window-dressing” on the part of the powers that be, and the public this year will keenly await the presentation of Mr. Coates’-financial proposals. For a long time the taxpayer has hae scant consideration from the Government. and ea r b year ha.s seen his burden increased Wh.it is in store this year? Probably at the moment only Mr. Coates can tell, and very likely he has not yet completed his arrangements. After years of difficulty, the Government has been able to reveal a surplus in this year’s accounts, and the civil servant and the taxpayer are both looking for a measure of re ief. It has to be remembered, however, that the circumstances which made for a surplus this year were largely fortuitous, and whether the Government will ieel justified in granting increased wages and salaries and reducing the burden of taxation remains to be seen. Mr. Coates will take the public into his mmfidence at the right time. Little Legislation As to ordinary legislation it appears that the coming session will be fairly barren. There will be a n nber of minor measures, mostly of an amending character, but unless measures of importance emerge from the Budget, members will have little to engage their attention except the Address-in-Reply debate, the Budget debate and the Estimates. From a purely political point of view—and that is the view that will count —the session is likely to be a momentous one, probably one of the most momentous in the history of the Dominion.