Parliament on the Air

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 2, 25 September 1937, Page 6

Parliament on the Air

A.

TAXPAYER.

Sir,— It is likely, I think,' that ti* broadcasting " of 'proceedings ' in the House of Representatives : to a communifcy ia which tho use of wireless has bocome almost universal will have 4 very different effect to that . hoped 'for .by the present Government. In the first plaee it will serve as a disillusionment to many, who, ,np till now, have regarded Parliament as a dignified assetoblage where the affairs of the eountry are dehated with the seriousness and deliheration which their importance demands. Secondly it will diselose, in some measpre, the illogieal reasonipg. and queer mcntal outlook of at least' some individual members. A case .in poiut: A f ew nights ggo an Opposition member for a southern constituency was discussing taxation, and point'ed . out .that the taxation . per head . in . this eountry was xoughly £5 . greater than it .was in either Great 'Britain or Australia. It is unnecessary to say, o£ course, that this is a question that . vitally affects the welfare of every individual in this eountry, and one also4 upon which serious minds are tO-day being seriously exercised. Imagine my surprise'therefore to hear a fetort from . a .member on . the Government' side of the House, "We haven't started yot"! " As an exhibition of unfeeling irre3ponsibility I think this w'ould be hard to beat. It surely should make : people hesitate before they think: of re-com-mitting their destinies to the, hands df 'pCopie who speak in such a strain. — • Yours, etc., "

September 23/37.