MINISTERS REPLY TO QUESTIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 October 1948, Page 6

MINISTERS REPLY TO QUESTIONS

MANY SUBJECTS COVERED PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Oct. 27 (PA). —Accumulated during several weeks, 54 ministerial replies to questions were tab ed in the House of Representatives this afternoon and discussed by members until the tea adjournment. Among the replies weed the following:— Planes for Israeli Replying to Mr. Watts. Mr. Nash said the Reserve Bank had received no application for any transfer of funds which could be used for the buying of planes for the Israeli air force. The bank would not approve any such application. Aid For Russia Mr. Nash, replying to Mr. W. H. Fortune (Opp-, Eden), said the Government was not aware of any forms of Russian financial aid being accepted by New Zealand trades unions There had been no recent remittances from Russia to New Zealand for purposes other than the purchase of wool. Communist Meetings The Minister of Works (Mr. Semple), answering Mr. Sheat, said it was intended to prevent Communist organisers conducting meetings in rail- [ way workshops and other railway preimises, and appropriate action would be taken to ensure that they did not [do so. Salt Industry ' The Minister of Industries and [Commerce (Mr. Nordmeyer), replying Ito Mr. T. P. Shand .(Opp., Marlborough), said the Government did not [intend to make the production of salt [a State monopoly. Negotiations were now being carried out with the private interests concerned. Planes For Stranded The Minister in Charge of the Air Department (Mr. Jones), replying to ;Mr. M, H. Oram (Opp., Manawatu), [said he was informed that Tasman Empire Airways had not refused to co-operate with private tourist agencies in regard to the chartering of aircraft for stranded persons in New Zealand wishing to return to Australia.

[Poultry Industry I The Minister of Agriculture )Mr. Cullen), replying to Mr. J. T. Watts I (Opp-, St. Albans), said the Governiment had decided to make a grant toiward the cost of organising the poultry industry, and the question of marketing procedure had been under consideration for some time. It was expected that a procedure agreed between the Government and the industry would shortly be announced. Sterling Funds / The Minister of Finance (Mr Nash), replying to Mr- K. J. Holyoake (Opp., Pahiatua), said no alteration was proposed in the present system whereby New Zealand’s sterling funds are I held as a single pool available to meet I services and other charges and to pay ! for imports. Mr. Holyoake had suggested the building up in sterling in London of a reserve fund equal to [reserves in the primary products stabilisation accounts. i State Houses I Mr. Nash, replying to Mr. M. H. Oram (Opp., Manawatu), said the latter’s proposal that State tenants should have a right to the freehold of I the houses they occupy was neither desirable nor necessary. The Government would continue and expand |its po.icy of giving every assistance jto those wishing to own their own ' homes, and would also continue its . policy of providing rental homes for ■those preferring State tenancy. [Communists Petrol • Mr. Nash, replying to Mr. W. A. ISheat (Opp., Patea), who asked if I the Government regarded the Com|munist Party as a subversive organisation, or as a legitimate political [party, said that in accord with demoI cratic procedure it was not proposed Ito interfere with the activities of any organisation so long as those activities did not conflict with the laws of the Dominion. A licence for three gallons of petrol a month granted to the Communist Party for organising its political activities was based on the number of votes cast for the party in 1946. 1 ransport Control Mr. Nash, answering Mr. J. T. Watts (Opp., St. Albans), said Government policy accords with the statement officially issued during the 1946 election campaign. There was no evidence to suggest this policy lacked the approval of the electors. There was no provision in that policy for socialisation of the transport industry. Mr. Watts had asked if Mr. Nash’s attention had been drawn to a statement of the Minister of Transport (Mr. Hackett), reported on October 6, that the Government did not intend to socialise transport. Mr. Watts asked if this implied a renunciation of the Government’s declared policyTelephone Monitoring The Postmaster-General (Mr. HacIkett), replying to Mr. T. L. Macdonald (Opp., Wallace), said there was no system of listening-in by the Post Office to any te.ephone conversation, whether a toll call or local; nor had there ever been such a system. At the larger exchanges the work of switchboard operators was monitored, but this was something quite different. The monitoring equipment did not enable a monitor to ijsten-in to a conversation. The monitor was connected with the operator’s equipment only, and could hear a conversation only when the operator being monitored cut in on a circuit. This was standard telephone practice in manycountries and was not a wartime measure. In New Zealand monitoring i was primarily for training operators land also discouraged operators from listening-in to subscribers’ conversations.