GOVERNMENT DEFENCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1044, 7 August 1930, Page 7

GOVERNMENT DEFENCE

MR. STALLWORTHY SPEAKS ON “RAINBOW BUDGET” OPPOSITION BLAMED THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, Wednesday. A defence of the Government s policy was made in a vigorous speech in the House this evening by the Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, who claimed that the Government was doing its best to right the wrongs experienced under the 16 years of Reform administration. Whatever might be the merits or the demerits of the Government, he said, the position to take up was that the welfare of the country was a question of the happiness and welfare of thousands in New Zealand. New Zealand was 12 months a wav fVr.ni Erpnpr:il election and he had

sion, yet tne ixerorm i.iriy wus t-aiMm, up an unreasonable attitude in refusing co-operation. Apart from party politics, claimed Air. Stall worthy, there was a definite duty devolving upon every member of the Assembly to do ■ his best for the people of the Domin- ’ ion. Air. MacMillan had said the 5 Government proposed to put the ship in order without considering the continuation of the voyage. Surely the * first thing to do was to put the ship > in order before sailing? t Regarding the Leader of the Oppoi sition, the Right Hon. J. G. Coates’s c statement that the Budget was a Black Budget. Mr. Stallworthy said he could 1 not suggest any better colour after t 16 years of Reform administration, but - the Budget had been given so many colours that he would suggest that it i bo called the Rainbow Budget. The * rainbow was a sign of promise and C th© Budget did give promise for future, t with no more drifting black clouds of .• Reform or Tory floods to drown this .• country in disaster. Mr. D. Jones (Reform—Mid-Canter- ■. bury) bad said the Government was 1 drifting. e Air. \V. P. Eiulean (Reform —Fare noil): He might be a trawler. Air. Stall worthy asked Reform to ’ admit that the Government had to .’ meet the situation as a result of Reform drift. Reformers: Never! “RAID” ON P. AND T. FUNDS Air. Stallworthy said he had looked r at the situation and found it so. al--5 though he looked at it in an unbiased manner. Mr. Jones had seriously sug- . gested a raid should be made on the Post Office reserves. Mr. Jones: A raid? Mr. Stallworthy said he was using ’ the waArd often used by Members or ‘ the Opposition. Mr. Jones had sug- . gested a raid on the Post Office funds. : vet lie would find there was a very . small surplus indeed. Mr. Staillworthy'.s own conviction was that the , Government should be very careful j in raiding those reserves. He had V ery serious misgivings that the time was L not far distant when the reserves of - the Post and Telegraph Department 5 would prove all too small. Every * member was aware of the challenge to 1 the railways through motor transport - What was likely to happen to the Post 1 and Telegraph Department when radio 5 and radiovision developed and in the B days not far distant when every man 1 would carry a receiving and trans--1 mitting set as he would a watch? 1 What then would happen to the Post ' and Telegraph reserves? Air. Stall worthy went on to say that 1 the Government was handicapped in L* its operations by Reform commit--1 ments. For instance, Reform had on- ? tered into a contract of £34,000 a 1 year for the supply of small arms am--1 munition for 15 years. If the contract were not renewed at the end t of the term £15,000 had to be paid ) in compensation, yet today the Govs eminent had a supply of £400,000 s worth of ammunition on hand and the contract had nine years to run. That was typical of the difficulties imposed on the Government by the commitments of the Reform Party. Air. Stall- - worthy said it was a thousand pities - that the Reform Party had not been 1 in office when its various chickens had come home to roost. Then probably one would see a repetition of the civil 1 service cuts of 1922.