COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL SESSION WAS NOTEWORTHY FOR LEADERS’ COMMON SENSE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31198, 24 October 1966, Page 10

COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL SESSION WAS NOTEWORTHY FOR LEADERS’ COMMON SENSE

(Erom Our Own Reporter' WELLINGTON, October 23.—The Parliamentary session which ended on Friday was the quietest and least acrimonious for several years. This was mainly due to the lack of really contentious legislation but most senior members are prepared to admit that theie was moie to it than that.

Several, including some who are retiring this year, believe that this session has been one in which both leaders put common sense Jefuie time-honoured but time-wasting Parliamentary tactics.

' For this the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) is thought to be chiefly responsible. Particularly in the closing stages of a session, the Leader of the Opposition is able to control the speed at which Parliamentary business is transacted. This is why Prime Ministers are loath to fix a rising date for the House. It has been fatally easy for Leaders of the Opposition to score an apparent point against the Government by destroying the accuracy of Government predictions. Mr Kirk has avoided such temptations. In doing so, he cannot be said to have lost for jthe Opposition any chances of (expressing its differing views, i He has been reasonable, and | at times has worked to prejvent friction, without (abandoning any of his privileges as Opposition leader. Smooth Running The House sat on 78 days, compared with 89 last year—a total of 458 hours and 20 minutes before midnight and 15 hours five minutes after, compared with 558 hours and 17 hours 33 minutes re- ■ spectively last year. The daily average of six hours four minutes was even lower than last year’s six hours 35 minutes. As the Leader of the Opposition emphasised during the valedictory addresses, this did not mean that members had nothing else to do. Select Committees were even busier this year than last. They compiled 115 reports as against 110 in 1965. The Local Bills Committee was unable to clear its backlog of measures, though it brought down a total of 50 reports, as against 41 last year. If the main reason for a Parliamentary session is the passing of legislation, this one was not unprofitable. One hundred and forty bills of all classes were passed, compared with 163 last session. Generally speaking, this session has aspired to no records. The 1963 session was even shorter, as were its daily hours. The main factor which has marked this one has been its almost complete absence of tension, even in the closing stages. There have been “scenes,” but they have not been prolonged. There have been difficult situations, but they have been resolved without any real threats of suspension. For this the retiring Speaker (Sir Ronald Algie), though handicapped at times

| by his failing vision, must be i given credit. A less tolerant (Speaker would have sus- ! pended at least six members. Question Time The session has been a vintage one for the oral question. This does not mean that more were asked than usual, but that members on both sides of the House seemed to find a better way of using the oral question to elicit answers from Ministers and to promote debate. It is unlikely that the Select Committee which will be sitting during the recess to consider changes to Standing Orders and procedure will be contemplating any revision of Question Time—except perhaps to extend it. What is remarkable is that it has taken four full years for members ■ to adjust to the most effective | use of a changed system. The developed technique is j to turn each provocative question into a short debate, by the use of supplementary ! questions. It is significant that I on the last day of the session. ■ when normally members would be thinking of other I things, there were 34 oral (questions on the Order Paper —2O from Opposition and 14 from Government members. ( The oral question has (superseded the adjournament debate, or “Hancock’s Halfhour,” as it is irreverently called. This has been an advantage to the many parties of schoolchildren who have attended the House this session. At least they have been treated to sharp debates on specific subjects. During the session, 56 members (that is, all members of {Parliament except Ministers, Under-secretaries, and a small [Opposition group) asked a (total of 1039 oral questions. I For the first time in Parliamentary history, a woman member headed the list of questioners. Mrs E. E. McMillan (Opp., Dunedin North) was easily the first, with 71 questions asked. In second place was another Labour member, Mr M. A. Connelly (Riccarton) with 50 questions. The list of keenest questioners is: Mrs McMillan, 71; Mr Connelly, 50: Mr W. W. Freer (Opp., Mount Albert), 46: Mr H. V. Donald (Govt.,

Wairarapa), 43: Dr. A. M Finlay (Opp.. Waitakere). 38. Mr D. Maclntyre (Govt., Hast ings). 34; Mr A. D. Dick (Govt., Waitaki), 33; Mrs F. Tombleson (Govt.. Gisborne), 33; Mr H. J. Walker (Govt , ■St. Albans), 33; Mr S. A Whitehead (Opp., Nelson), ! 33: Sir Basil Arthur (Opp . Timaru), 32. In spite of his long absence from the House through sickness, Mr P. Blanchfield (Opp . Westland) soon returned to his old form as an asker of questions. Before the end of the session, his individual score was 21 questions asked, mostly about West Coast mat tens. Unfinished Business A number of the measures left on the Order Paper at the end of the Parliamentan session will be widely exam ined during the recess, and will return to the Order Paper in 1967. This was the subject of a question by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) on Thursday. Mr Kirk suggested that, while it was reasonable ito adopt such a course in a I non-election year, the possi- | bility of a change of Government made it difficult in the 1966-67 period. The Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) said that provision had been made for changing the personnel of the various Select Committees which would be considering the Bills in the recess. Measures on the Order Paper when the House rose included the Family Protecj tion Amendment Bill and the Electoral Amendment Bill, both in charge of the Minister of Justice (Mr Hanan), and the Public Trust Office Amendment Bill, in the care of the Minister in charge of the office (Mr Rae). The Legal Aid Bill is before the Statutes Revision Committee, the Water and Soil Conservation Bill is being examined by the Lands and Agriculture Committee, and the Door-to-Door Sales Bill is being looked after by the Commerce Committee. The Local Bills Committee is examining the Electricity Distribution Commission Bill and the Rating Bill, as well as a number of late-arriving local measures.