A Parliamentary Notebook

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 128, 20 August 1927, Page 8

A Parliamentary Notebook

Some Sharp Words (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The passage of the first item of the Estimates, which always involves a general discussion on administration, occupied the afternoon and evening in the House of Representatives to-day. Members on the Labour benches concentrated on one or two subjects concerning wireless and other departmental operation. Sharp words were exchanged in the evening, when the Hon. W. Nosworthy, Postmaster-General, was compelled to withdraw for using unparliamentary language in the course of the discussion on the Broadcasting Company’s loan. The House rose shortly after ten o’clock.

No Vacancies Mr. J. A. Lee, member for Auckland East, in the House to-day drew the attention of Mr. Coates to the report in THE SUN of the previous day referring to the new political party, and suggesting that recruits were to be drawn from Ministerial and Liberal ranks. Mr. Lee wished to know what Ministers had signified their intention of leaving the Government and throwing in their lot with the new movement. The Prime Minister, after protesting to the Speaker that the question was not an urgent one, said: “I can assure the hon. member that it is of no use him applying, for there is no vacancy at present.” Somersaults Interjections were showered upon the Postmaster-General, Hon. W. Nosworthy, during his remarks in the radio controversy this afternoon, but he got some of his own back in a tilt with the member for Wanganui, Mr. W. A. Veitch. Mr. Veitch was saying that he was not going to contradict the Minister, and he was not going to agree with him. Mr. Nosworthy: You don’t need to. You can tumble off either side of the fence. Mr. Veitch: I think I can show the Minister as clean a record as he can show me. Mr. Nosworthy: You can show more somersaults. Mr. Veitch: I didn’t somersault from my principles. I hope the Minister can say the same. Mr. Nosworthy: My conscience is clear. Mr. Veitch: I don’t doubt that. The Minister’s conscience will not trouble him. Probably there is good reason for that. Now that these little personal pleasantries are over, we can get down to facts. Next Week's Business Indication of the business that will be dealt with when the House of Representatives resumes on Tuesday was' given by the Prime Minister this evening in reply to a question by Mr. M. J. Savage. Mr. Coates said that a short Finance Bill, principally affecting the Post Office, will be introduced on Tuesday afternoon, and probably will be taken on Thursday. It might be taken on Tuesday if the House agreed. It is expected that a number of departmental reports, as well as a few Government Bills, will be brought down early next week.

EOT GIVEN A CHANCE The explanations so far given for the acceptance of an English tender for show-cases for the War Memorial Museum in preference to an Auckland tender are not convincing. Boiled down, the English cases are to be landed for £219 less than the price quoted locally. Doubtless the cost of delivering them from the wharf to the museum will wipe out this comparatively small difference. The Museum Council rejected the Auckland tender because Mr. Parsons did not place before it “sufficient evidence of his ability to carry out the work at the same standard as the British firms.” It will be noted that “the council does not express any opinion whether Mr. Parsons could do the work or not!” It would be thought that as the money for this museum was contributed by Aucklanders, every effort would have been made by the council to definitely ascertain whether any Auckland firm could do the work before deciding to accept a tender from overseas. There was no urgent haste; the acceptance of a tender could very well have been deferred and the Auckland tenderer could have been asked to make and submit for inspection one specimen case. If that had proved up to requirements, the money should have been spent in Auckland—where it was raised. If it did not, then the council could be excused for ordering from abroad, but not otherwise.