OPPOSITION ATTACK ON DEPARTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1948, Page 5

OPPOSITION ATTACK ON DEPARTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER

Retrenchment Urged

WELLINGTON, Sept. 16. The House to-night went into committee on the Estimates.

Mr F. Doidge (Nat., Tauranga), speaking to the first item, said the vote for the Prime Minister’s Department this year was £234,245, compared with £156,966 spent last year. Former Prime Ministers managed with two or three secretaries, but to-day there were 21 in the Prime Ministers’ own administrative staff, while two new sub-divisions were th'e National Publicity Studios and the National Film Unit, giving a total employed in the whole department of 345. Much of the Film Unit’s work was propaganda for the Government. The Information Section’s staff should be decreasing. Those engaged in this section were clearly salesmen, selling the Government’s policy to the people, and trying to keep the National Party out of office. The staff of the Information Section supplied Government members with information for debates in the House and taxpayers’ money was being used for party political propaganda. Rt. Hon. P. Fraser said Mr Doidge had distorted the position. There was a complete justification for every person on the staff of his department. It was useless to compare the present requirements with those of earlier Prime Ministers, for the whole world had changed. We are all living in a new world, except Mr Doidge. If the latter were in charge of External Affairs, he would require only a small staff, for it took only a small staff to run a morgue. Mr Fraser said that the work of the National Film Unit compared with the world’s best, and it would require more money as it exnanded —and it would expand—and bought modern equipment. It was correct that facts were given to Government members., but he always had believed in making the best use of facts, and he would be pleased to have the facts supplied to the Opposition also, if they would use them intelligently. The Government was a hundred times justified in what it did to make its policy known, and he had no apology to make for expenditure in his department. Mr J. R. Hanan (Nat., Invercargill) said the Prime Minister’s staff was now equal to half a battalion. It was, in effect, the Labour Party’s propaganda machine, but the taxpavers oaidi for it. Mr T. C. Webb (Nat., Rodney) said he wished to defend Mr* Doidge against the Prime Minister’s charges of distortion. Mr Doidge had asked for information about publicity work done by the Prime Minister’s department, but information was not given. Mr Webb said he considered it was wrong that services of the Information Section should not be made available to the Opposition as well as to the Government. The National Film Unit was somewhat of a mystery department.. He would like to know if people had any means of ascertaining what it was doing. It appeared htat its only purpose was to further political interests of those on the Treasury benches. Mr H. Combs (Govt., Onslow) said that it should be patent to everybody with the National Film Unit was seiwing a public purpose and not a party political purnose. The unit was doing a reasonably good job so far as New Zealand was concerned, and it had had the opportunity of purchasing up-to-date equipment .with which to replace the old equipment. Mr Combs said that, with new eouipment, better films than ever before could be expected, and the films would be of tremendous advantage in attracting tourists to the country.

Discussion was interrupted by the adjournment and the House rose at 10.30 until 10.30 to-morrow, when the Estimates will be continued.