QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20844, 30 June 1939, Page 6

QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT

Members of the Opposition lost no time in exercising their prerogative of asking pertinent questions when the first session of the present Parliament was opened. Questions have been accumulating for eight months, and the Ministers face many busy weeks in framing replies. This is the first time, although they were elected last October, that members have had a right to ask the Cabinet for an account of its stewardship, and it may be expected that within the next few months the public will have a much clearer conception of the financial position and other affairs of State. Mr S. G. Holland’s question concerning the famous “Lee Letter” was inevitable, but although the Opposition will probably pursue it, not much satisfaction will be obtained from the Government benches. Mr W. P. Endean’s inquiry about the Government’s handling of the naval ratings’ claim for an increase in rates of pay is likely to share the same fate. Of more general importance is the reply that can be made to Mr C. A. Wilkinson’s lequest for a statement of the Government’s intentions regarding the Australian manufacturers’ refusal to supply orders for iron and steel products until an assurance of payment is forthcoming. The most interesting question so far asked, however, comes from Mr J. Hurgest, who has asked for a return showing the amount of borrowing by the Government departments in the past year and the sources from which they have borrowed. If the Government is wise it will take some pains to give a complete answer to this question, for there is a great deal of confusion in the public mind regarding the methods by which the Government has financed its programme in the past year. For instance, it was commonly understood from the- last Budget that £14,000,000 was to be borrowed to complete a public works programme requiring over £20,000,000. So far as the public is aware, the only borrowing so far has been the recent internal loan of £4,500,000. A full explanation of the year’s loan transactions would be useful in clearing the public mind of the uncertainty that at present exists.