"GAGGED"

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 136, 1 August 1941, Page 5

"GAGGED"

MR DOfDGE'S CHARGE INDICTMENT OF GOVERNMENT " "It couldn't happen here' is a common phrase when we discuss Gestapo methods, but my own experience lias been an amazing one," said Mr F. W. Doidge, M.P., when speaking at the annual meeting of the Otakiri branch of the National Party on Monday, evening. "During the budget debate in Parliament I was hotly attack because I dared to charge the government with failure to provide adequate military training in New Zealand," continued Mr Doidge. "The decision of the Opposition to withdraw from the budget debate robbed me of the opportunity to reply to those attacks. But I found a method of stating my case on the floor of the House. I took advantage of the opportunity presented by what is known as 'question time.' I incorporated in a list of seven or eight questions what would have constituted the basis of my speech on the budget if 1 made it. Those questions represented a terrific indictment of the Government. "In accordance with Parliamentary procedure," he added, "I had .first shown the questions to Mr Speaker. When I rose in my place in the House, Mr Speaker announced I would be taken off the air, but added that that did not mean he proposed taking any other steps in regard to my questions. "Accordingly, my statement from the floor of the Hons? was sent out in full to the evening newspapers by their representatives in the Press Gallery. But the statement was never published. The reason it was not published was because the censor immediately dispatched specific instructions to the newspapers, ordering its suppression., Thus, Doidge was effectively gagged. "The only course left to members of the Opposition is to state the facts from public platforms throughout the country. This will be done/' concluded Mr Doidge.