PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 2 July 1952, Page 4

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

The Taupo Times, though non-politi-cal as regards party affiliations, nevertheless shares with its readers in the general interest taken by the people of New Zealand in the doings of Parliament. Our Legislature, the highest institution in the land, now consists of a single chamber. The House of Representatives is therefore the focal point of interest. What it does aff ects all and sundry. From the repercussions of its activities the Taupo Country is not immune. There are several potent reasons why we should be interested in what Parliament is doing. The General Assembly is a cross-section of the public. Its members are elected to serve the public as a whole, and serve it efficiently and conscientiously. Whether in effect it does so is a question for the people to decide. In the last analysis, sovereignity, supreme power is vested in the people. For this power to be exerclsed intelligently, the doings of Parliament should be studied with interest and discernment. There is a saying that people get the kind of Government they deserve. It is cqrtainly true that apathy and indifference on the part of the people in their attitude towards Parliament, encourages abuses and corruption, and the. calibre of the Legislature correspondingly deteriorates. Criticism of Parliament and Government is one of the cherished privileges of oui inherited tradition of free thought and free speech. It is a privilege we are apt to take too much for granted, It should be kept alive, and invigorated by regular exercise. We should never forget that under our free in* stitutions we can get rid of a Government if and when we choose. They cannot do that on the other side of the Iron Curtain. The radio has brought Parliament into intimate eontact with all who care to switch on to 2YA during the Session. Some of us don't of course. We are not all politically minded, though there are signal occasions, such as Budget Night, when the Minister of Finance, speaking for the Government of the day, may be as- \ \ . •

sured of a very large audience indeed. Again, the radio has enabled the public to get a closer valuation of the personnel of the Legislature. Before its advent, the Press, despite the criticism levelled at it in the heat and fury of political party warfare, could at least temper the oratorical crudities of some members with literary polish enough to make a presentable appearance in print. Our honourable members, furthermore, are now threatened with a still more frightening exposure of their real selves with the advent of television. This new medium of publicity has become commonplace overseas — an estabiished fact. If and when it becomes an estabiished institution in New Zealand, our honourable members, politically speaking, will be completely naked.