PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS

Hokitika Guardian, 19 March 1931, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS

(Exchanges)

One of tin' outstanding events of the first Parliamentary week was the Labour Unions’ demonstration outside the House when Mr Forbes faced a jeering crowd of several thousand and refused to deviate f rom his s 'declared -wages policy. His uncompromising attitude earned a warm compliment from Mr AY. Nash (Lab., Hut tb in that Mr Forb.es did not flinch from conveying a message to tile crowd that could mu, have been palatable to it. The first three days of the special session of Parliament provided the Prime Minister with both a disappointmeirt and ii gratification. He has been frustrated in his desire to dam tin spate of rhetoric that usually marks the Address-in-Rcply deflate, but lie lias survived the Labour Party’s noeon fidenee amendment with the help of the Opposition.

If is of passing interest that the Labour Party was the source of Mr Forbes’s gratification as well as his disappointment. There was a touch o: the humorous in Mr H. E. Holland’s anxiety to ny>ve his no (confidence amendment on the afternoon the House assembled. In doing so he terminated his party’s support for the Government after having kept it in office for almost two and a half years, and, in addition, lie served to rearrange the political forces in the House in such a manner that his own party lost whatever effective power it had. Incidentally lie cleared the atmosphere hv securing, a definition of party alignments and revealed roughly what Air ; Forbes can expect in the way of opposition during what is certain to he a highly interesting session. 1 Some of the most, important, prnpos. ; als to he considered by Parliament for | maiiv years are awaiting decision as | soon as the Address-in-Replv debate : is finished. It was the Prime Minister’s hope that it could he ended by Frii day so that the real business could be started. At any time this debate ! serves little or no useful purpose. It is I usually built up by members who deluge the pages of Hansard with genj (nullifies and statements that should | obviously lie 'made from an eleetioneer. ing platform. Why if should lie prolonged during • a session whose speciI fie purpose is to deal with elear-enf issues is .difficult to understand. The Leader of the Opposition. Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, lias made a generous offer to help rather than to hinder the Prime Minister. He has reserved his party’s right to eritieise and improve when' necessary, but whatever opposition is to lie' offered is fo bo deferred nnfil the Government’s proposals ar° brought down in the shape of Bills. ' With a clear definition of (lie Labour Party’s attitude hv Mr Holland, it would seem that no useful purpose can he served hy preventing the House '"'fi.ing down to detailed legislation. * There have been 27 speakers in the , debate so far, and 17 have been Lab- j our members. Not one has carried matters further than did Air Holland in his Town Hall address on Wednesday and liis speech in the House the next afternoon. Tie has set the tune, lmt the variations by his party members have been singularly barren of originality. To the Labour Party is conceded the right to explore every legN*mate means in its power to try to amend the Government’s wage-reduc-ing pronosals—as it intends to do—lmt the exercising of this right to delay the harmless Addross-iii-Replv motion would seem to he hut a useless prolonging of the emergency session. I