Questions Asked in Parliament

Grey River Argus, 18 September 1948, Page 3

Questions Asked in Parliament

WELLINGTON, Sept. 17.

At question time in the House of Representatives to-day, Mr W. A. Sheat (Nat.,. Patea). gave notice to ask the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, if legislation would be introduced this session providing for the establishment of a State paper mill and whether plans for such a mill involved importation of plant requiring expenditure in dollar funds. Mr Sheat said a report in the Houston Chronicle on March 27 last quoted the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, as saying in an interview during his recent visit to Texas that “the New Zealand Government is planning a 300.000,000-dollar paper plant to supply the country’s needs.”

AGE OF WATERSIDERS Mr W. H. Fortune (Nat.,_ Eden), gave notice to ask the Minister of Labour, Hon. A. McLagan, whether in view of the dangerous nature of work on the waterfront and the great physical strain involved in it. the Minister would consider sponsoring. a regulation providing that every waterside worker should be obliged to nroduce a medical certificate of fitness and a copy of his birth certifiMr Fortune said it was recently reported that a. watersider, 80 years old, had dropped. dead at work.

CHINESE IN SAMOA Mr R. M. Algie (NaL Remuera), 4 gave notice to ask the Prime Minister if he could assure the House that the proposed repatriation of Chinese from Samoa was a wise and proper step, having regard to the interests of the Chinese themselves and of the planters by whom they had been employed. Mr Algie said he had received representations from Samoa td the effect that the proposed repatriation would seriously interfere with the cocoa harvesting operations.