PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 60, 11 March 1944, Page 5

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PASSES THE INVERCARGILL LICENSING BILL

Flirt her progress was made in the House of Representatives yesterday with the. Address-in-Reply debate. The House sat in the morning and in the afternoon, adjourning at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Invercargill Licensing C Legislative Council yesterday. T an amendment moved by the Hr the amendment being defeated 1 and the Hon. T. ]•’. O’Byrne (Soul (P.A.) Wellington, March 10. The Address-in-Reply debate was resumed by Mr. P. Carr (Govt., Auckland West) when the House of Representatives met at 10.30 this morning. Mr. Carr said that Opposition members all said they were not “riding to order,” but they were certainly running true to form. They all attacked the workers. Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opp., Central Otago) said Mr. Carr had made an impudent claim that the Government was concerned with defence before it gained the Treasury benches. The fact was that until just before the war nobody was more opposed to military expenditure in New Zealand or any part of the Empire than members of the present Government, who'were at the head of every pacifist movement and bitterly opposed compulsory military service. Mr. Bodkin said there was an urgent need for action by the Government to solve its manpower muddle, for four years food production had been substantially in the hands of old men and women. The Government had called up women of 31 to 40 years before ascertaining how many hundreds or thousands of young girls could be released from the uniformed Services. SUBSIDIES CHALLENGED. Mr. Bodkin said that subsidies were being paid out surreptitiously by Cabinet or the War Cabinet behind closed doors. If money was to be paid out to civilians in the form of subsidies it should be voted openly by Parliament and the* whole truth told to the people. Mr. Bodkin claimed that New Zealand had been placed in a desperate position through Lend-Lease operations. There was a defic.. of nearly £40,000,000 against us to-day and now that we required far less from the United States the effect would 'be that we have to pay off the debt in future by goods and supplies under reverse-Lease-Lend on the disadvantageous price basis negotiated by Mr. Nash. Mr. T. Omana (Govt., Eastern Maori), said that no Government had given more assistance to the Maori people than the present one. Social security had enabled thousands of Maori women and children to have a piece of bread and butter. Much ol the native legislation now on the Statute Book had outlived its usefulness and should be wiped out. The word “native” seemed foreign to him, and he thought the word “Maori” should be used'on all occasions. He believed in less talk and more work. ’ Mr. E. P. Aderman (Opp., New Plymouth) said it was high time we got away from talk of depression and faced realistically the issues of vital importance to New Zealand to-day, among which the winning of the war was paramount. Parliament should be restored to its proper function in the government of the country, even if that required some concessions from both sides of the House. The Government must realise that not all the wisdom, sincerity, and reasonableness , came from th"e Government benches or . from Ministers absent from their seats because they had been transferred to distant and exalted positions. MANY INTERJECTIONS. Mr. Aderman was frequently subjected to interjections, and the Speaker frequently called the House to order. Discussing the New Zealand-Aus-tralian agreement, Mr. Aderman said the peoples of the two countries had . always closely linked, and the ; rhetorical emphasis placed on cooperation by the fact and manner of its signature was nonsense. The Government ought to have consulted the Opposition and the people before concluding a long-term pact which might outlast its originators. Moreover, impressions had been created abroaa which could have been avoided had : more tact been used in the presentation of the past to the world. The debate was interrupted by the - adjournment at one o’clock. BETWEEN TWO PARTIES Mr. R. M. Macfarlane (Govt., < Christchurch South), speaking when 1 , the House resumed at 2.30, said the Ij election clearly demonstrated that the real issues of the country were be- < tween two main parties. He claimed ; that but for the Democratic Labour ; Party the Government to-day would ■ still have 50 seats in the House, the ’ Opposition 29, and Mr. Atmore as l Independent. Any Government in war- I

Bill was passed by tbe The Council went to a division on on. Vincent Ward (Wellington), by 17 votes to two. The mover it hl and) were its only supporters. time was bound to tread on the toes of many people. He considered that while the Land Sales Act had gained Labour some urban votes it cost the Government seats in the country districts. where it was physically impossible to overtake, in the short, time between the passing of the legislation and the election, the many misrepresentations of the Land Sales Act which were circulated. He recommended the Government to introduce its major legislation at latest, in the second year of Parliament and enable the country to appreciate the measures properly. Mr. Macfarlan? said the struggle after the war, between the right and the left, would become much more acute. It was a division between those desiring to return to the status quo and those genuinely seeking to provide a .better deal for the people, which largely made the demarcation between the Opposition and the Government.

One suggestion made by Mr. Macfarlane, discussing help fbr mothers and families, was that, after the wur, military camps should be adapted to provide holiday centres for mothers with children.

Mr. A. J. Murdoch (Opp., Mqrsden) said the major problem in New Zealand to-day was the production of food needed by Britain. Representatives of farmers, in the last few days, had had discussions with representatives of the Government and others. He was not at liberty to say what was discussed concerning prices or other matters. The farmers had put up a case to the Prime Minister and he would say one Government member had spoken in the House in a manner quite contrary to that of the Prime Minister in the conference. Mr. Murdoch quoted figures to show a decline in pigmeat, dairy and other production. He urged the removal of many irksome restrictions which were irritating the farmer and hindering production. He wished to co-operate with the Government to see that the best possible production is obtained from dairy farms, but would ask the Government’s assistance and co-operation in return.

Mr. Murdoch predicted that farm wages would have to go up further yet if satisfactory farm labour wae to be obtained.

ALLEGED VEGETABLE WASTI Mr. Murdoch told how, a few days ago, he was asked to see a State vegetable farm, a few miles from Whangarei, where a tractor was discing to pieces five acres of pumpkins almost lit for use—sufficient to have supplied Whangarei for a year. He understood several acres of peas and cabbages nearby were also not being used, while six acres of maize had, so he had been told, sold to a neighbouring farmer for grazing for £3 per acre, despite the fact that the State paid £5 per acre yearly for the land. The reason for this was reposted to be that the Government was handing the land back to the original owner to restore to grass, but it meant a very great waste. Mr. R. Coulter (Govt., Raglan) said there was no coalfield in the world where there had been less trouble than in the Waikato since the Government took over control of those mines. The output had also increased tremendously, and this increase had been achieved long before the number of shifts was increased. Mr. Coulter added that it was apparently not clearly understood that at. least 300 of the miners were well advanced in years. Mr. Webb (Minister of Mines) deserved congratulations for the improvements in miners' conditions which had taken place under his administration. The miners were now being treated like human beings. Mr. Coulter reminded the miners that the Government needed their help and they should forget the Opposition’s irritating tactics and produce to their limit in the country's interests.

Mr. C. G. Harker (Opp., Waipawa) complained that not a single block of soldier-settlement land had been open n d up in Hawke’s Bay. Soldiers had to find the land for themselves. One returned man waited two years, 'althougn he was a farm manager, to I get a farm, and then got it only with the help of a private friend. The Government .talked of the mistakes made after the last war, but, Mr. Harker said, 75 per cent, of the soldiers settled in his district after the last war were effective producers to-day. 1 The House rose at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 on Tuesday.