VARIETY OF TOPICS COVERED IN HOUSE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 43, 13 November 1937, Page 3

VARIETY OF TOPICS COVERED IN HOUSE

-PresB AeBOciation.)

ESTIMATES DEBATE Cost of Mr. Nash's Trip Abroad "NOT AN IDLE MOMENT"

(Bv TelegrapK-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. The House met at 10.30 a.m. The Ohurch of England Trusts Amendment Bill (Mr. W. P. Endean) was read formally a second time. Amendments made by the Committee of Selection to the Nelson Diocesan Trust Board.Eihpowering , Bill were agreed to on the jnotion oi Mr. H. Atmore, member-iu-charge of the Bill. The Prime Minister 's motion for a sitting of the Hcuse on Mondays for the remainder of the session was passed. Seven days ' leave of abcence was granfced Mr. W. M. Denham (Invercargill) on account of urgent privato business. The House then proceeded with the consideration of the estimates, urgency being accorded a number of clause*. Considering the External Affairs Department vote of £456,415, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Adam Hamilton asked if the Minister would explain the increase in these estimates. He also referr'ed to the item of £700 for the provision of a loudspeaker for Parliament grounds. He thought there were sufficient loudspeakers in Parliament itself, without having to spend an- additional £700 for one. Mr. K. X Holyoake (Opposition)' referred to the menace to forests by deer and: commended the work which had been done in providing for their eradication. He suggested a bounty should be provided for p^vate deer-stallcers. Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (Opposition) also commended the provision of £10,000 for the destruction of deer and commended the fine work which had been done by the, departmenVs officials ,ia reducing -'deer herds in Otago and Southland. Minister of Finance 's Trip. Mr. J. G. Barclay (Government) ref erring to Opposition criticism of the amount expended for the Minister of .Finance'# trip overseas, said the trip had resulted in very beneficial results from the sum of £5000 spent on the trip and it had resulted in the Dominion benefitting to the extent of £l-,000,000 and that was good business. * Mr. J. Hargest (Opposition) referrei to the steady increase in the cost of the High. Commissioner 's office in London. There were votes for the High Commissioner '& office right throughoai •the estimates and if they were lumped together the total vote would amount to nearly £50,000. He though it time a halt was called'in this expenditure and suggested som'e return might be accepted for the services which at present the Commissioner 's office gave fre.e. Mr. J. O'Brien (Government) also referred to the deer menace. Aeroplane pilots had suggested to him that deer might be machine gunned from the air. He suggested that a royalty should be offered for the destruction of deer and ■said that it was time a serious effort should b'e 'made to combat the menace. Mr. R. A. Wright (Independent) said he would support expenditure which would exterminate deer, as exteruiination was- the only cure of the deer menace. Ministers Reply. The Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Nash, speaking of his trip overseas and ita cpst,of £5000, said it was hot possible for him to have done more for. tho expenditure of that £5000. Not a moment of his trip had been spent in pleasure and in every country he visited he completed the necessary work with the Government of that country connpcted with the Dominion's trade. New Zealand, he said, had fewer representatives at the Imperial Conference than any other Dominion and there had been trade results which had justificd the expenditure, and as far as the Imperial Conference was coricerned the Dominioit simply had to he represented. JfThe Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. W. Parry, replying, said the officefs ;of the department responsible for the .destruction of deer deserved- congratujlations for the work they had done. Mr, Parry said he had been criticiged for - his attitude in declaring war on deer, but he had no hesitation in doiug so in view of the destruction for which deer were responsible. Ref erring to the purchase of a loudspeaker for Parliament grounds, the Minister said that hitherto" tho Government had been foj'ced to hire. loudspeakers for functions there, ,but". it had been decided to buy a set which, for public purposes generally, was very ne.cpssary. • The .External Affairs Department 's vote was passed after the Prime Minister: had applied the clogure and the HquSe proceeded to consider the vote of • £6,769,423 for the Pensions Department. Discussing this vote the Leader of the Opposition suggested that perhap3 tho Government might consider somo system pf supefannuation for members of Parliament. The House adjourned at 1 p.m. The House continued tne Giscussion ,of the pensions vote when it resumed at 2.30. • Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opposition— Ccntral Otago) drew attention to the gratuities paid to widows of cx-mem-bers of the House, and hoped when the Government brought down its supefannuation seheme the services of these ex-iuembers would be recognised, Hon. J. G. Cobbe . (Opposition — . Oroua) said he did not think there would be much opposition to the passjng of the pensions vote, but h* drew attention to the fact that the vote wa3 £3,000,000 more than that for 1935-36. He noticed that 187 more miners were r.ectiying peuiiong thu formerl^

The Minister in charge of pensions,, Hon. W. E. Parry, explained that fhe! increased number of pensions paid to, miners was due to the widened pro-^ visions of tho Act. Rt. Hon. J, G. Coates (Opposition— | Waipara) asked for the wider application of pensions for men suffering from war disabilities, a plea which was supported by Mr. W. J. Lyons (Government — Waitemata), who also asked for greater provision. for pensions for the widows of men who died as a result of war disabilities. Mr. S. G. Smith ' (Opposition — NeWj Plymouth) asked if provision would be made for a system of pensions for all' widows who could not earn "their own livings. Mr. J. Hargest (Opposition — Awarua) also made a °plea for increased soluiers ' pensions. Hon, W. E. Parry pointed out that since the present Government had come into power, pensions payments had been increased by over £3,000,000, and he was sure there would be further increases in the future. Speaking of invalidity pensions, the Minister said one of the chief difficulties experienccd had been. the determination' of complete invalidity. The question of widows' pensions would require consideration, he said, and, ref erring to Mr. Smith 's proposal, he pointed out that there wero young widows with no children. Concerning special annuities for widows of ex-members oi Parliament, he said hc had considered the matter and a report on the subject was under consideration by the Government at the present time. The Minister m charge of war pensiops, Hon. E. Jones, contended returned soldiers had had a very fair deal with xegard to war pensions and wero receiving very sympathetic consiaeration from the War Pensions Appeal Board. He said he hoped that ifndei the Government 's new legislation to be introduced nest year all classes of .the community would be covered, not only war pensioners, and he hoped they would be able to overcome many of the apomalies existing at the present time. War pensions in New Zealand were iuoreasing, he said, whereas in Britain they" had decreased, showing that the Government was looking after the interests of the returned soldier. New Zealand 's war pension rates were the highest in the world. Mr. Hargest said that before the present Government came into office, New Zealaad's pensions policy was still the best in the world. When the Marine Department vote of £158,987 was under consideration, Hon. ,T. G. dobbe asked if something could be done in the dircction of further expenditure on whitebait spawning' grounds, and he also asked if the Government would introduce quinnat salmon into the Rangitikei river, which was more suitable for the purpose .than the Wanganui. Hon. A. Hamilton (leader of the Opposition) expressed concern at the depletion of supplies on New Zealand fishing grounds, and. said if the Minister would give some more information i about what was being done in connec- [ tion with whitebait spawning grounds, J the general public might assist in preserving this class of fish. , Mr. Hargest, in advocating there should be an, open season for the taking of seals on .the' south coast oi Stewart Islan'd and in the West Coast sounds, said fishermen of these districts asserted there had been a good deal of poaching going on among the seals in those areas by bcats which did not .trade at New Zealand ports. He also drew attention to the destruction of fish by seals, and asked for a survey of . the oyster beds in Eoveaux JStraits. The Minister oir Marine, Hon. P. Fraser, said the problems of the fish-' ing industry were not easy, and before i dealing with them one had to hav.e the' facts. A commission had been set up1 and had d^alt with the matter in a! very satisfactory manner. Its report; would soon be brought down, and he hoped it would settle different problems in the fishing industry in a permanent i and satisfactory manner. The Minis- | ter added that the Government steamer | Matai trould visit seal rookeries in tho j south when the opportunity presentcd itseH. i Mr. W. P. Endean (Opposition — • Parnell) suggested something might bo done about the Australian trawlers visiting New 'Zealand waters and dcpleting the Dominion's fish supplies. Tho Minister replied that an investigation was being made into the matter, but certain legal difficulties . still remained to be cleared up. The vote was passed., Speaking on the Police Department vote of £610,000, Hon. A. Han'ilton asked if thcrc were still plenty of applicants coming forward for enrolment in the Police Eorcc. The vo.te \yas passed with practically no discussion, , as did the vote of £12i,505 for the National Provident and Eriendly Societies' Department. Replying to a suggestion tnat a statement on the Employment Promotion 'Pund should be published at regular intervals, when the Department of Labour vote of £120,964 was under consideration, . the Minister ;of Labour, Hon. H. T. Armstrong, stated the cash position of the fund was published in the Gazettc every three months. The vote was passed, and the House rose at 5.25 after having passed six classes of estimates, the total sum involved being £8,237,294.